Traffic cameras at stop lights - colloquially known as "Red-light cameras" are supposed to be keeping people safe and stopping car accidents, but according to numerous recent studies they are actually doing the exact opposite, instead of lowering the rates of accidents, they are increasing them.
In 2010, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that 673 people were killed and at least 120,000 sustained some kind of injury in crashes that were directly caused by red-light running. The way that many cities have taken to addressing the issue of these statistics is to install red-light cameras - camera's attached to traffic lights that take pictures of every car that runs through a red light. As of 2012, 25 states utilize them in various capacities.
Like most governmentally installed cameras capturing and recording images and video in public places, traffic cameras have received their fair share of attention.
A study done in 1995 by the Australian Road Research Board released tracked rear-end accidents across an entire decade, this is the most comprehensive study of its kind ever done. The results showed that the numbers of accidents increased when there were red light cameras present at an intersection.
Granted, that study might seem outdated these days. But, with its extreme length and thoroughness, the study provides an all-inclusive view that later ones have yet to replicate. And it's not the only study to suggest that red-light cameras might not be the best solution.
In the mid 2000's, the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University prepared a similar study for the U.S. Department of Transportation. They were tasked with looking at intersections with red light camera and some without over a 57 month period to see if criticism of the red light camera systems were warranted.
The study found that red light cameras do not reduce crashes. Instead, it found that red light cameras are associated with higher levels of many types and severity categories of crashes.
Findings vary in other studies about the effectiveness of red light cameras in many communities, but they continue to be put up around the country.
One contributing factor could be that the cameras are effective in lowering the number of red-light violations (and thus some types of accidents).
The other reason is more cynical, but no less true. Red light cameras are a big money industry and make lots of money both for the cities that install them and also for the manufacturers of them. In one country in Georgia last year, the red light cameras across town netted the town almost a million dollars in revenue. It's hard to turn down that kind of money.
In 2010, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that 673 people were killed and at least 120,000 sustained some kind of injury in crashes that were directly caused by red-light running. The way that many cities have taken to addressing the issue of these statistics is to install red-light cameras - camera's attached to traffic lights that take pictures of every car that runs through a red light. As of 2012, 25 states utilize them in various capacities.
Like most governmentally installed cameras capturing and recording images and video in public places, traffic cameras have received their fair share of attention.
A study done in 1995 by the Australian Road Research Board released tracked rear-end accidents across an entire decade, this is the most comprehensive study of its kind ever done. The results showed that the numbers of accidents increased when there were red light cameras present at an intersection.
Granted, that study might seem outdated these days. But, with its extreme length and thoroughness, the study provides an all-inclusive view that later ones have yet to replicate. And it's not the only study to suggest that red-light cameras might not be the best solution.
In the mid 2000's, the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University prepared a similar study for the U.S. Department of Transportation. They were tasked with looking at intersections with red light camera and some without over a 57 month period to see if criticism of the red light camera systems were warranted.
The study found that red light cameras do not reduce crashes. Instead, it found that red light cameras are associated with higher levels of many types and severity categories of crashes.
Findings vary in other studies about the effectiveness of red light cameras in many communities, but they continue to be put up around the country.
One contributing factor could be that the cameras are effective in lowering the number of red-light violations (and thus some types of accidents).
The other reason is more cynical, but no less true. Red light cameras are a big money industry and make lots of money both for the cities that install them and also for the manufacturers of them. In one country in Georgia last year, the red light cameras across town netted the town almost a million dollars in revenue. It's hard to turn down that kind of money.
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