Let's face it; the main reason that Police officers ticket you for various traffic offenses is for revenue, and not for the infraction itself being some sort of public menace to the citizen's safety. For instance, it's late at night, there isn't a car around, and you make an illegal u-turn, I mean, what's the point of the ticket, right then, cause really it's real purpose is for ticketing people that make that illegal u-turn during heavily trafficked times of the day in which a u-turn at that intersection, for example, interferes with other cars turning right at the intersection.
Another real good reason to eliminate police officers from ticketing you for traffic offenses is the perceived threat that you feel to your liberty and to your safety when you see those blue lights flashing behind you. An officer is supposed to uphold the law, and many do most of the time, but some do not, some of the time. When you are pulled over by an officer, you are at the mercy of someone that has handcuffs, a firearm, and other weapons, and the law that can be arbitrarily applied against you. All this you have to suffer for some minor traffic offense and for simply driving on a public road or just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This though could gradually change with switching the responsibility of ticketing drivers for infractions from police officers who are highly paid and replacing them with by-law enforcement officers, who are paid considerably less. A by-law enforcement officer is a civilian working as an adjunct to a police force but is not a police officer (e.g. parking meter officer). Because a by-law enforcement officer carries no firearm and has no direct arresting power, you as a civilian can feel more relaxed that a traffic offense will simply be treated as a traffic ticket and not be escalated to something far more drastic.
I don't believe that it's any real stretch of the imagination to take someone that is capable of slapping a parking violation ticket on your car to someone that is capable of ticketing you for running a stoplight or for not yielding or various other traffic offenses. These by-law enforcement officers could work with a sophisticated video camera attached to their dashboard to first record the infraction and then in situations in which the offender tries to outrun the by-law enforcement officer this information could be transmitted to a nearby police officer for further action.
Utilizing by-law enforcement officers for traffic offenses, would free up more time for police officers to perform their primary duties within their communityThe budget for overtime in police departments should also decline considerably along with police officer personnel reduction due to attrition or non-hiring. Because by-law enforcement officers will specifically work traffic offenses they will be motivated to do a good job because that is their specific job. Since most traffic violations are minor and are not criminally prosecuted, but are simply treated as fines, this seems like a practical transition to make.