What is the purpose of a Red Light camera?
#1 Income to the convicted felons who bribe government officials to install them.
#2 Income to City, a smaller cut than the briber. But, of course, the bribes have to come out of his cut.
#3 Invasion of privacy of citizens. Unreasonable search is unreasonable search when it searches (photos) everyone, law abider and law breaker alike, with no reasonable suspicion that the law abider might be a law breaker.
#4 Overwhelming anecdotes of drivers doing stupid stuff to avoid getting caught.
You forgot reason #6. To be able to prove that the illegal who broadsided and killed my 18 year old son had a red light and my son had a green light.
We got a phone call from someone who was there and saw it all but were never able to find that guy again.
There were not any red light cameras in 1984 but I wish there had been.