Seeing Red: DC Mayor Makes Good On Pledge To Cover City In Traffic Cams

WASHINGTON – The mayor of the nation’s capital wasn’t kidding last year when he said he wanted to “cover the entire city” in traffic cameras.

The District of Columbia -- which in 2012 hauled in roughly $85 million in traffic-ticket revenue -- has doubled its dragnet of cameras to nearly 200 with a “new generation” of devices which critics say also take aim at law-abiding motorists blocked in crosswalks and intersections. The move has sparked concern from driver-advocacy group AAA that municipal leaders may be going to new lengths to monitor and punish motorists.

“Some cities will have some of these new cameras,” Lon Anderson, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s director of public and government relations, said. “But none will have this full of an arsenal.”

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