Workman Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyer | October 1, 2025 | Car Accidents
Whether as a local or a visitor, you’ve likely noticed the cameras pointing at many of the roads throughout Florida. Some of these are red light cameras, while others are traffic cameras. The average person might glance at the two of these and consider them to be interchangeable, but as you’ll learn below, they each serve distinct purposes.
As you drive around Clermont, FL, it is important to understand the difference between these types of cameras: One benefits you by helping monitor traffic flow and even preventing car accidents, while the other only benefits the city.
What Are Red Light Cameras?
Red light cameras are the bane of many drivers; these automatically take pictures of any vehicles that run red lights, and the state, using that image, sends a red light ticket to the vehicle’s owner. The presence of these cameras means that you can get a ticket for running a red light, even if a police officer isn’t present to witness the event.
Issues Related to Red Light Cameras
Unsurprisingly, these types of cameras are controversial for several reasons. For one, the person driving a car isn’t always the person who owns the vehicle, which means that the latter could receive a ticket whenever they lend their vehicle to a friend or family member.
Secondly, the timing on these cameras isn’t always perfect. You could potentially receive a ticket if your vehicle proceeded through the intersection while the light was yellow, or even if you are 95% of the way through the light when it turns red. While that is technically fair game, a police officer would be unlikely to cite you for that.
These cameras are controversial enough that a 2024 law now limits how they are used: Localities that use red light cameras must make annual reports about them, and contracts for these devices must be approved at publicly-noticed meetings.
What Are Traffic Cameras?
Traffic cameras, on the other hand, benefit drivers by helping them identify where traffic is and make smart routing decisions in turn. Live streams from Florida traffic cameras are available online. From these live feeds, you can learn about unexpected traffic or car accidents before driving down a particular road.
How Can Traffic Cameras Be Important for a Car Accident Case?
The video from these streams can also help you if you are involved in a car accident. Say, for example, that somebody hits you near a traffic camera but flees the scene shortly thereafter. The camera might have recorded the accident itself, as well as the license plate number of the hit-and-run driver, so you and the police could have a much better chance of identifying them.
Similarly, traffic cameras may be able to provide evidence of fault in an accident. While fault isn’t always important in Florida traffic accidents, it can affect your insurance premiums and may be important if you are seriously injured.
Since a traffic camera could potentially capture an image of a driver texting on their phone just before an accident, it could be used to prove that distracted driving caused your injuries. And seeing that traffic camera footage is public, you’ll have easy access to such evidence whenever you need it.
Contact Our Clermont Car Accident Lawyer for a Free Consultation
Traffic and red light cameras share a purpose, and that’s to help limit traffic accidents. One of these devices does so by helping you avoid dangerous situations, while the other works to punish individuals who create such hazardous conditions. Whenever you find yourself in and around Clermont, remember to take advantage of the first and always respect the latter.
For more information, please contact an experienced car accident lawyer at Workman Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation.
We proudly serve Fort Lauderdale, Clermont, and its surrounding areas:
Workman Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers
633 S Andrews Ave Ste 401, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 361-3997
Workman Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers
1655 E Hwy 50 ste 316, Clermont, FL 34711
(352) 77-33866