Red Light Cameras Don’t Reduce Accidents

That’s what a headline above a story in the Chicago Sun-Times read yesterday.

Red Light Cameras No Fewer AccidentsS-T 5-15-13

Chicago’s Inspector General finds that red-light cameras don’t reduce accidents.

Anyone surprised that the primary purpose of red light cameras is revenue?


Comments

Red Light Cameras Don’t Reduce Accidents — 7 Comments

  1. Yes, I’m surprised.

    The purpose of red-light cameras is to ticket violators.

    If drivers improve their driving habits and beginning stopping at red lights and avoiding intersection accidents, that’s added value.

    Photo-radar should be enacted, allowing cameras to identify speeders and generate tickets.

    The driving public thumbs its collective nose at traffic laws.

    They have been allowed to do this far too long.

    The law is clear. If you stop at a red light, you won’t get a ticket.

    If you drive within the speed limit, you won’t get a speeding ticket.

    Ask the whiners: Do you make a legal stop at red lights and stop signs?

    Do you drive above the posted speed limit?

    How about in the 37-mile Work Zone on I-90, where the speed limit is 45MPH?

    Do you speed?

  2. Good Lord Gus!

    You must be in your 80s!

    That is such antiquated thinking it isn’t even funny!

    Many countries in Europe have gotten rid of speeding limits, cut the number of traffic lights all together, added round abouts, and used cameras to actually delay people from going through lights when they detect someone coming from the other direction is going to go through a red light.

    It’s ok though… you can keep paying for useless money grabbing schemes!

  3. Received a Red Light tic and was writing out the check to send in, when I paused and tried to remember when this occurred.

    You get these things weeks after the occurrence and after putting the locale and date together, I finally remembered a cop taking over the intersection and directing traffic.

    I made a call to a friend who was able to send me the actual intersection tape via Stadium Security which clearly showed my vehicle being directed to proceed by the cop.

    Sent it to the slugs that ticketed me, via E attachment and promptly received notice the case was dismissed.

    Now I was lucky that I had a means to get off the hook, for this revenue producing scam.

    But how many just write out the check as I was doing, before actually remembering the date and location?

    I should put the tape it on You Tube, as ‘Gov. Revenue Scams’ and see how many hits I get.

  4. Fox News reports that FLORIDA was cught reducing the yellow light interval time to INCREASE the number of violations to increase REVENUE.

    100 MILLION per year.

    News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state’s policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations.

    The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs).

    Money is split with the Camera Company.

    Here’s the news story

    http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=316418

    I rest my case. It’s clearly about MONEY. A longer YELLOW equally fewer crashes AND less REVENUE.

  5. I always felt that any money generated by police should go to reduce the local taxes, not generate revenue. If someone speeds on my street and gets ticketed every day I should receive some sort of compensation for this; not only the Police Department as is the current case.

    You know in the past Police Officers were there to “serve and protect” not “ticket and generate revenue”.

    Properly timing the lights, planning entrances/exits, yellow flashing light on main roads during off-peak hours and after power outages, etc. would make our roads safer and more easily usable.

  6. Did anybody actually read the article?

    It’s not about the effectiveness of photo-red light enforcement, it’s about the Chicago system problems.
    The FHWA reviews red-light enforcement effectiveness.

    The Crash Modification Clearinghouse list studies http://www.cmfclearinghouse.org for different kinds of treatments.

    Those studies clearly show a decrease in the worst kind of crashes, angle/turning and an increase in rear-end collisions.

    Trading injury and fatal crashes for property damage is a good deal.

    The FHWA has a video about modern roundabouts that is mostly accurate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhHzly_6lWM ).

    Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world. Visit http://tinyurl.com/iihsRAB for FAQs and safety facts.

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