Florida - Red Light Repeal

OFF THE WIRE
More than a hundred bikers rode their motorcycles onto the courtyard of the state capitol Monday to ask lawmakers to make Florida's roads safer. They want stricter penalties for drivers who kill people in car wrecks, and some of them are also calling on lawmakers to ban red-light cameras.


It was all chrome, leather and loud pipes Monday as more than a hundred bikers stormed the state capitol. One by one the names of bikers killed on Florida's roadways were read aloud.
The Motorcycle group, ABATE Florida wants mandatory jail time for drivers who kill people in car wrecks... But some of them also want red-light cameras repealed.
Bikers like R.C. say they've seen more people slamming on their breaks at yellow lights to avoid a ticket since the cameras have been installed. "I have heard squealing breaks behind me, you know? And you're looking like when are you going to feel the thump and where am I going to go?"
No one wants to be rear ended, but it's often times more sever on two wheels than on four.
It's a fact Gregg Borden knows all too well. "A real good friend of ours last year was killed, he was sitting at a red-light waiting for it to change red then a guy ran right over him, killed him dead."
But Gregg isn't against red-light cameras. He says it's a catch 22; Risk red-light runners, or risk being rear-ended because people slam on their breaks to avoid a fine. "If it's not used as a cash cow I'm all for it."
Shari Gold has been riding for a decade. She says the cameras are an invasion of her privacy. "I think it's another government big brother looking over our shoulder."
State lawmaker Rep. Jimmy Patronis of Panama City shares her fear. "That's a slipper slop to start down, where do the cameras stop."
While some studies show red-light cameras cut down on T-bone accidents... other studies claim they more than double the number of rear end collisions.
Libertarian and Tea party groups are planning red-light camera protests 5:30 tomorrow afternoon throughout the state. Some of the bikers from today's rally will be at those events.