Almost every state and major city has one or is considering one. Seattle has more than a dozen and Spokane just brought on four this year to bolster their numbers to 7. They are red light cameras and they have proven to be cash cows to municipalities around the country whose budgets are feeling the crunch of the lagging economy.
The tickets run a standard of $124 per ticket. People receive them with candid pictures of themselves racing through the intersection. Recently in Seattle many of the tickets have come under dispute after the city had found it installed cameras in intersections that in fact violated city code. The law states, “Use of automated traffic safety cameras is restricted to two-arterial intersections, railroad crossings, and school speed zones only,” they are in many intersections that only qualify by the fact that they can make the city a ton of money.
These are the kinds of problems that were being presented to a subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee yesterday. But what happened in Seattle seems a little more innocent as compared to the accusations made in the hearing regarding transportation officials across the country illegally shortening yellow lights after ignoring calls to lengthen the warning signals, according to testimony.
Committee chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for using lax standards in handing out federal grants to help fund red light camera programs.
“If people are going to use federal funds to establish these programs, shouldn’t there be standards or guidelines?” DeFazio asked a panel of transportation officials attending the hearing.
Red Light Cameras
Officials found some of the highest revenue-generating intersections were experiencing an uptick in accidents, and some cities were shortening yellow lights to below the federal minimum. An alternative was suggested framed after a Georgia law that merely extended yellow lights.
Three months after Georgia enacted the new law, red light violations were cut in half and 12 cities dropped their camera programs for not generating enough revenue, Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk said.
“We found abuse by local governments and a lack of regulation and standardization,” Loudermilk said of his state’s 10-year-old camera program.
This is not the only evidence that perhaps red light cameras are not the safety tools municipal officials say they are.
The Virginia Transportation Research Council 2007 report conducted a 7 year study between 1998 and 2004 on intersections in six jurisdictions. They found that red light running crashes decreased by 8%, but rear-end crashes increased by 27%. That is a demonstrative increase. Rear-end crashes are far less likely to be fatal they could lead to long term spinal injuries and other health concerns.
Another study presented to the subcommittee yesterday was of 132 intersections in Baltimore, Howard County, Montgomery County, and three jurisdictions in California. That study showed red light cameras reduced right-angle crashes by 25 percent and increased rear-end crashes by 15 percent, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
There have been research conducted in Spokane that wasn’t presented to the committee that showed they had an annual average of 11 crashes caused by running red lights leading up to the implementation of the program. This number held steady for the first year of the program, but in 2009 it went up to 14. That’s a 22% increase, yet they still installed the new red light cameras. An estimated $750,000 in revenue is hard to pass up.
Personal Injury Lawyers
NHTSA officials and local government representatives insisted on the effectiveness of the traffic cameras in slowing cars and saving lives. Howard County Georgia Police Department Capt. Glenn Hansen backed up the assertions of the NHTSA. He told the House subcommittee that he used a federal grant to test red light cameras in Howard and found crash reductions at every site where cameras were installed.
Officials on the east coast, particularly in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas, where nearly 300 cameras already exist, have penciled millions into their budgets in expected traffic camera income this year. Arlington County installed four red-light cameras last month, and Prince George’s County won state approval in April to expand its camera program.
DeFazio suggested to the subcommittee that the federal government require proof that states attempted to increase road safety at problem intersections before considering red light cameras.
That is a reasonable suggestion because putting a camera in every intersection may be an abuse of the purpose of the cameras, which is public safety. They then should also attempt to follow up on Georgia’s evidence that extending yellow lights may lower the number or wrecks.
If it is true that red light cameras increase rear-end accidents this could increase injuries. If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of these types of intersections then the best thing you can do is contact an experienced personal injury lawyer. Call Phillips Webster for a free consultation and review of your legal options.
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