Monday, 13 June 2011 05:59 | Last Updated on Monday, 13 June 2011 06:16 | Written by Matt Nye

The Melbourne City Council will consider an ordinance to install red light cameras in the City of Melbourne Tuesday night at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting at 6:30pm in the Council Chamber at 900 E Strawbridge Ave, Melbourne.

Per his comments in the Florida Today this morning, District 1 Councilman Mike Nowlin has clearly adopted the safety/enforcement argument. The Florida Today cites information from a 2005 Federal Highway Administration study that shows a decrease in right angle crashes but an increase in rear end crashes. No mention of any of the other studies located here.

Please contact your Council representative and explain you are against the cameras not because you want people to get away with breaking the law, but because:

• The owner of the vehicle is ticketed, NOT the driver committing the infraction.
• Red light cameras deny basic constitutional and due process protections such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a trial, the right to be confronted by your accuser, and proper notification.
• The vast majority of studies show red light cameras cause more accidents, injuries, and fatalities. They increase traffic congestion and change driving behavior for the worse.
• Red light cameras raise revenue by punishing technical foul violations such as right turn on red violations and split second entries into the red light which rarely cause accidents.

This isn't about safety folks - it's about money! We don't need more revenue - we need less spending!!!

Studies show that increasing amber time by one second can reduce violations by 60 percent or more in many cases - if the Council's goal is to increase public safety, this is what they should be looking at.

Alas, as I said, this isn't about safety, its about revenue. Please forward this story to everyone you know in Melbourne and ask them attend the meeting and to wear a red shirt. For more details on the agenda, please click here.

Washington DC may be out of reach until 2012, but our local municipalities and county government aren't. Please invest a couple of hours of your time tomorrow night and make your voice heard. A handful of concerned citizens can stop red light cameras from becoming a reality in the City of Melbourne, and if we can't stop them this time we can vote out those Council members that vote for the cameras at the next election.