In an eight-hour period of time, 125 cars ran through the red light of one intersection in Minneapolis, according to a Star Tribune report. Simply put, that’s 125 opportunities for someone to be hurt &045; or killed &045; in a vehicle crash. There are 12 such intersections considered dangerous because of their high accident rates. You do the math. The chances someone will be hurt is too high to ingore.

We fully support the installation of ‘photo cops&uot; at such intersections, set to start today as part of the &uot;Stop on Red&uot; program. The program is designed to reduce the number of people running red lights, and theoretically accidents at intersections.

According to the Star Tribune story, underground sensors will detect cars that run red lights, triggering a camera which will take a picture of the vehicle’s license plate and record 12 seconds of video.

One U.S. city said it experienced a 25 percent reduction in crashes within a year where these cameras were installed. That’s a percentage people can live with, no pun intended.

Those worried about their privacy need to get over it &045; cameras record nearly every public move we make these days, from buying gas and pop to our banking transactions. The only time it seems to bother most people is when they are caught doing something wrong, or embarrassing. If there’s nothing to hide, it’s easy enough to forget about the cameras. If putting a camera at various intersections reduces the chances of people running red lights, it logically reduces the number of people likely to be hurt by inattentive drivers. And if people are running red lights because they are in a hurry and the camera slows them down, all the better.

If drivers refuse to obey traffic laws, established primarily for the safety of all residents, then we suggest they smile for the camera.