Red Light Cameras Suspended In Miami Starting Monday (VIDEO)

Smile, You'reOn Camera (Anymore)

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Smile, you're not on camera -- at least in the City of Miami where red light cameras have been suspended for two weeks until commissioners decide on whether to continue the program, reports NBC 6.

Thursday, the City voted to turn off red light cameras on Monday after the Florida legislature required all drivers to fight such citations in city rather than county court.

Commissioners believe the city is ill equipped to handle the heavy caseload and what's more, some believe the cameras are abusive and unnecessary.

There are currently 153 cameras monitoring over 90 intersections -- "more cameras than the city of New York which is 20 times the size of the city of Miami,” City Commissioner Francis Suarez told NBC 6.

Nine out of 10 vehicles that have received a red light running violation haven’t received a second," Charlie Territo of American Traffic Solutions, the company that runs the cameras, told CBS Miami. "There’s no question that driver behavior changes."

He also pointed out that the revenue generated from each $158 ticket gets split 50/50 between the municipality running the program and state trauma centers.

The tickets generate $3.4 million in annual revenue in Miami, reports the Miami Herald.

“The problem with that is that our citizens view it as an involuntary tax,” Suarez told NBC 6.

Elsewhere in Florida, WTSP found that yellow lights had been shortened at intersections with red light cameras, thereby doubling the amount of tickets issued.

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