San Bernardino: Red light camera nation?

The city of San Bernardino is set to consider a massive expansion of their red light camera surveillance program that would make them the county's biggest user of this controversial technology.

Adding $2 million for camera technology at seven new intersections - the city currently has four camera outfitted intersections - was on Monday's council agenda, but held over for further discussion in two weeks.

Two recent Sun stories have taken strong looks at this growing phenomenon of snapping photos of alleged violators of left, right and straightaway red light signals and sending them $391 tickets in the mail. California is one of fewer than half the states in the country permitting this technology, and San Bernardino County is becoming a leader in using it.

click here for a comprehensive look "Caught on Camera" and here "Traffic Camera Alert" for an ethical and legal discussion that includes the story of one woman's family who contend they were falsely accused and strung along for more than one year of hassle and $700 in fines.

We'll see how this plays out. Some San Bernardino city leaders have been long proponents of red light cameras, but others have signaled that a tight budget and civic backlash have convinced them that expansion of the surveillance system is the wrong approach.