Seems like everywhere you look, desperate municipalities are setting out red light traffic cameras in a bid to “reduce accidents”, even if it seems more like they’re just out to line their cash-starved pockets.

And for drivers in the South San Francisco area, it sure seems like that to them, too.  Why?  Because a red light traffic camera ticket, even for something as simple as being slightly out of alignment ahead of a white line in front of the camera costs FOUR HUNDRED FORTY SIX BUCKS.

Sounds like a lot, right?  Turns out the whole reason that the costs are so high is because so many beaks are dipped into this honey pot.  Check out the rundown from San Mateo County Superior Court:

$100 fine gets divvied up between the agency that wrote the ticket, the state and the county.
$100 state penalty assessment goes to a variety of funds including the state fish and game fund, traumatic brain injury fund or the Victims-Witness fund
$70 penalty can be invested by state agencies in securities
$50 state court construction surcharge pays for acquiring, renovating or building courts
$20 state surcharge goes to the state general fund
$10 DNA fund pays for the San Mateo County portion of DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act
$10 DNA fund pays for the same act as above, but statewide
$20 EMS fund helps cover the cost of uncompensated medical care
$30 court security fee pays for security in trial courts
$35 conviction assessment goes toward court construction
$1 night court fee helps cover the cost of evening court

All that…from one traffic ticket.  Pardon me if I sound a bit skeptical of this as anything but a revenue stream.