Intersection cameras get the green light

Yes, the cameras are a good thing. I’ve noticed a lot lately in the

past year that in the intersections of 17th and 19th streets, there

are a lot of red lights that have been run, resulting in accidents.

It’s very scary to drive here in Costa Mesa with the way that these

people drive and run red lights.

I think the cameras are great. Please do not take out the cameras.

They need to be there for the safety of our community. And the

drivers who do continue to run the red lights should be ticketed by

the Costa Mesa Police Department so that they can learn their lessons

and not run red lights and cause accidents.

We have a lot of high schools: Costa Mesa, Estancia High and

Newport Harbor. These are our youths driving, and we don’t want

anything to happen to them. So please, keep the red-light camera

system -- it’s a good thing.

LISA OTT

Costa Mesa

I think they are an invasion of our privacy. They smack of “Big

Brother,” and I am totally opposed to them from a constitutional

point of view. I might also point out that I have been in other

states that do this, and I’ve met people who have gone so far as to

buy reflective filters to put over their license plates that when

viewed from different angles, actually blur the numbers on the

plates.

Now, there is a cottage industry out there selling devices to

counter this invasion of our privacy. I think its wrong to create an

industry to counter this police action against our private rights. I

hope that enough people call the Pilot or let the police know that

this is not something the general public feels is in accord with

living in America and being free people.

And if the police feel that these intersections are unsafe, then

put a policeman there on a motorcycle and let him catch the offenders

in the way we normally catch people who break the law.

ROGER GORSKI

Newport Beach

I think that they are an excellent idea. I wish we could get them

at a whole bunch more intersections, and I do hope that Baker Street

and Harbor Boulevard intersections are close on the list. You sit

there and look at a green light in front of you and see cars -- four

and five of them -- still making a left turn across the intersection.

It is not only dangerous but frustrating.

JOYCE WOOD

Costa Mesa

I think they are an excellent idea. I think the basic idea is to

have laws obeyed and have safety. And if we can have somebody assist

the police in doing that, it’s entirely appropriate. So, I think the

cameras can only make things safer. And we get better safety with

fewer police. I’ve been known to coast through stop signs and stuff,

but on the other hand, if we set it up where that can’t be done, then

you have to live by the rules.

STAN WINTER

Newport Beach