In full disclosure, I've spent hundreds of dollars in fines levied by the NOLA traffic cameras, mostly going a bit over 30mph where the speed limit is 25mph. My emotional response: it's fucking annoying.
More analytically, however, there are two competing interests. First, do these cameras REDUCE traffic accidents? Who knows...but anecdotally, they have made me and my neighbor drive slower. So logically, they probably work.
Second, however, is the question of justice? Are they being implemented fairly? To that, I'd say NO. As per the article, the cameras are placed in somewhat devious ways:
A visit to the hardest-working traffic camera in town makes plain the reason for its success -- and why it has many motorists hopping mad. The camera is positioned about a block down from where Henry Clay, one of New Orleans' smoother streets, widens dramatically into a broad boulevard. The sidewalk on the avenue's uptown side is lined by a tall brick wall, reducing the odds that, say, a child might suddenly run into the street.
In short, drivers judge the street as one where they can safely travel at perhaps 35 mph. But the speed limit is 25 mph. At 31 mph, the camera trips, and a $75 ticket is issued. At 35 mph, the fine jumps to $110.
Plus, the delay in actually receiving the ticket in the mail leaves a latency period where the punitive ticket doesn't change driving behavior - because you haven't gotten the ticket yet! If you got a ticket by an actual cop, you're much more likely to drive slower for the next few weeks. But with a camera, you get the ticket in the mail in a couple of weeks, blissfully and ignorantly driving the same in the meanwhile.
Finally, I'm going to search to see whether the City audits the collections and releases where the funds have been allocated. Hopefully, this isn't a money-grab to cover under-funded accounts.