Since their installation in December 2007, red light cameras in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have failed to decrease the number of collisions at the locations where they are used. The UK-owned firm LaserCraft operates automated ticketing machines at six city intersections, splitting the revenue generated with the city. Officials claim the two primary objectives of the program are saving lives and decreasing the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities caused by speeding and red light running. Instead of a decrease, the total number of accidents at these locations increased six percent from 143 to 152, according to the city’s own data. At most of the locations, there was little or no change in accident frequency following the installation of cameras. The only significant change was seen at Fourth Avenue and East 23rd Street where ten accidents in 2007 jumped sixty percent to sixteen in 2008.
A report issued by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research in September likewise found no demonstrable benefit to camera use after a preliminary review of accident data from a number of cities, including Chattanooga (view report). The report cited a note of caution from the work of engineer Dale Gedcke when reviewing such accident reports.
“First, the number of accidents reported before and after red light camera installation is so small that the statistical uncertainty in those numbers obscures any trend,” the report stated. “Second, there are so many confounding variables (weather, day of the week, traffic flow, construction projects, etc.), that it is extremely difficult to extract the true effect of red light cameras without removing the effect of those confounding variables.”
The Tennessee Center for Policy Research suggested that, since photo enforcement has failed to prove effective, a far better alternative to the use of red light cameras would be to lengthen yellow intervals at intersections with a high number of accidents. A state law that took effect in January in Georgia mandated an extra second of yellow at red light camera intersections. As a result, violations dropped up to eighty percent in compliant cities, enough that officials in seven cities are looking to drop the use of cameras entirely.
Instead of longer yellows, however, Chattanooga was caught in March 2008 with shortened warning periods at at least one location. A municipal court judge ordered the refund of 176 red light camera tickets issued at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Pine Street because the yellow was illegally short.
More proof that traffic/red light cameras are for revenue and not public safety. I love seeing these programs fail!
I love good news. Hopefully it costs the Cities significant money to pull out of these contracts and the relevant politicians pay a personal price for that waste. It’s really odd to find myself in the unusual position of hoping for a blatant waste of taxpayer funds.
I’m not a big fan of red light cameras, but this isn’t enough information.
Side-impact collisions are usually worse than rear-enders. If the former go down and the latter go up, it may still be worth it.
Why not install a new kind of green light that displays the number of seconds remaining until red. I lived in a place where you could see the count down in the crosswalk signals; it was a great way of planning your driving.
SunnyvaleCA : I lived in a place where you could see the count down in the crosswalk signals; it was a great way of planning your driving.
We have those in downtown Houston, I am in love with them. They need to be everywhere, and they will kill the red light camera to boot.
This needs to go one better:
Criminal charges for any government official that knowingly approves the installation of red-light cameras inspite of statistics and studies that show they make intersections more dangerous.
The threat of jail time might actually force our elected representatives to their jobs and represent the electorate.
-ted
toll tags?
I appreciate the attention and detail your site focuses on this issue. Thanks!
Teds right. Take it another step, that they are liable in civil court as well, when someone gets hurt in this scheme.
I take issue with the title “Chattanooga Red Light Cameras A Flop.” Nowhere in the article do you address how much revenue has been generated by these red light cameras in support of your claim that they are a “flop.”
All the more reason why I just invested in a GPS-based redlight/speed camera detector…
Side-impact collisions are usually worse than rear-enders. If the former go down and the latter go up, it may still be worth it.
(This message sponsored by the Insurance industry…)
We are no longer at the point where these cameras are encouraging safety, we are to the point at which the city wonders how much revenue they can bring in, by adding. Sure, I am completely against them, because in order to appeal the ticket you have to go through so much work, just for them to say you still have to pay it. I feel as though if the police does not catch you running the light, well, their loss. There are many things that go on in today’s society that The thing that makes me mad, is that what if one of my parents decides to drive my car to the grocery store and in doing that, they make a poor choice, run a red light… who gets the ticket? … ME! That is ridiculous, just because it is MY car. I don’t think so. I think these cameras should be monitored, and then a police officer should be watching the screen from a distance, watch the person run the light, or do whatever illegal action they do, and pull them over. Someone is more likely to accept a ticket from a human than from a computer. Red light cameras are a good idea but a horrible concept. They are money makers. Watch this news video, newsy.com has where it is said the city of Atlanta made 1.3 million dollar off of ONE intersection camera… http://www.newsy.com/videos/red_light_revenue/
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