I didn't go through every comment, but since I sit in on these that come up for hearings, I will explain how they work here.
You won't receive a violation unless the light is red before you enter the intersection. We have an officer (with training, obviously) review the video and can slow it down to frame by frame. If the light it red and you haven't gone over the stop line, that's a violation. It's as clear as day. Given yellow lights are at least 3.5 (arrows) and 4.5 (through traffic) seconds, that's plenty of time to stop. I've seen hundreds of hearings on these and it's a simple answer - Were you across the stop line when the light turned red?
This is considered a vehicular violation because there's no way to know who was driving. It's like a parking ticket. If you don't pay, the fines escalate and they'll put a stop on the plate renewal. The "stop" happened to me once because I forgot to have the emissions test on my car. Frustrating, but that's about the last fence you can be stopped at.
These videos do become very helpful when the intersection has an accident. These are often requested by insurance companies and law firms, so there is some good use that comes out of them. I'm in full agreement that the main purpose of the cameras is revenue. In my area's case, they don't want to raise the revenue required by taxing. The cameras help fill the gap. If we know anything in Illinois, it's how to make government expensive.
FWIW, we've had them locally for a long time. I have yet to receive a citation. Why? Because I stop when it's required. It's not that hard. The heck if I'm giving $100 (whatever their cut is) to my local municipality. They are already getting enough.
