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Posted on 07/07/2007 7:42:30 PM PDT by Babu
A new Virginia Department of Transportation study shows accidents increased by nearly a third where red light cameras were used.
The Virginia Transportation Research Council today released a report expanding upon earlier research into the safety effects of red light cameras in Virginia. The new study, funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, provided a city-by-city assessment that showed significant increases in the number of injuries and accidents at intersections employing photo enforcement.
The change in the frequency of injury accidents varied widely among jurisdictions -- down 5 percent in one but up between 6 and 89 percent in all others. Even within a jurisdiction some intersections fared better than others. In Fairfax County, for example, the total number of crashes increased at every intersection with a camera, except for one -- Route 50 and Fair Ridge. VDOT increased the duration of the yellow light from 4 seconds to 5.5 seconds on August 12, 1998. Research by the Texas Transportation Institute confirmed that longer yellows yield significant accident reductions. Overall, the data in the VTRC report painted a grim picture consistent with prior, independent investigations.
"The cameras were associated with an increase in total crashes. Arlington and Fairfax County saw significant increases, Falls Church and Vienna saw non significant increases, and Fairfax City saw a nonsignificant decrease."
Although it is now widely accepted that red light cameras are associated with increases in the number of rear end collisions, the VTRC report did not solely attribute the overall increase in accidents and injuries to this type of collision. Angle collisions also increased.
"Cameras were associated with an increase of between 31 percent and 54 percent for rear-end crashes overall," the report found. "The association of the cameras with angle crashes differed among jurisdictions, although a preponderance of test results suggested an increase."
Contrary to industry claims, this was not a temporary phenomenon.
"The cameras were not associated with a decrease in rear-end crashes over time after the initial increase that followed camera installation," the report found.
Red light cameras were authorized in Virginia between 1995 and 2005. After a two year battle with municipal lobbyists and the insurance industry, the Virginia state legislature re-authorized the use of red light cameras. The law took effect July 1. The full text of the study is available in a 1mb PDF file at the source link below.
Key Statistic:
City Rear End Angle Injury Total
Arlington +139% +53% +89% +65%
Fairfax City +10% -35% -5% -7%
Fairfax County +40% +8% +6% +23%
Falls Church +136% -15% +79% +38%
Vienna +64% -6% +59% +25%
Average +42% +20% +18% +29%
Source: The Impact of Red Light Cameras on Crashes in Virginia (Virginia Transportation Research Council, 7/5/2007)
Well hey that makes me feel better. At least a little of it goes to a Freeper. Just for that you've gotta kick in an extra fin to Jim Robinson.
I ask, what are these "stickers"?
Toll stickers
No Toll roads here...
Sorry to not get back sooner. I was tied up on another thread. I agree with you exactly, but the cameras are enormously expensive and local governments absolutely depend on the revenues they generate to keep them in operation. Also, I think the gist of the post is that they are actually causing some of the wrecks.
You are right about the governments’ intellectual honesty as regards use of the cameras. Of course, also, there is no such thing as intelligent government.
Mythbusters had a show where they tried some commercially available "license plate obscuring" products. None of them worked well enough to keep the camera from getting a clear photo.
Thanks for your contribution. I share your dim view of Stalinists. However, this paragraph is devoid of useful information, and as best I can tell, has no relationship to the topic being discussed. What point were you trying to make?
-ccm
bookmarked
these gummit people will get us killed......
When I learned how to read ... I learned.
Now, I read automatically. I even find myself scanning a little ahead to find or keep the flow of my reading 'voice' in my head.
If there was a reading police subliminally tapping my subconscious and correcting what hasn't been strictly taught, I'd perhaps lose the love of reading and read slower, with less comprehension and re-call.
I drive a big truck, and the most enjoyable time for me is between 12 midnight and 5 AM. Why? The only ones on the road are other big truck drivers all synched with each other by their experience and 'love for the road' (translation ... we make pretty damned good money)
Our problems come not from each other, but by the 4 wheelers (cars) that start to show up at morning rush hour.
Instead of pedal to the metal, jabbering on the CB and otherwise occupying the 90% of our brains not driving, we flip flop and use 90% of our brains trying not to kill stupid drivers.
Once it becomes known and common that there is a red-eye (sometimes white) 'cop' at a light .. an additional factor is thrown into the mix and driving is no longer fun and the result of a 'learned' skill. It becomes a task that one needs to be constantly checking and re-checking to see if the t's are crossed and i's dotted.
I love to read and I love to drive ... and I don't like intrusions into my stream of conciousness.
And the correlation with cellphone usage during those years was...?
Cellphone users are big "rear-ender" causers, due to the human inability to "multi-task".
Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize the thread police wouldn't allow me to pipe in with an opinion about increased surveillance and overhead cameras.
I believe the show where I saw this was on MSNBC, yesterday. I can't find a link about it right now, but it was about a gang of people who attacked one or more women in plain sight of the police.
My point is that the government will use any excuse to increase surveillance cameras - and they are getting us used to that increased surveillance with the red light cameras at every intersection.
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