Outweigh benefits of red light camera to reduce road crash is still questionable

In general, the technology works by having cameras posted at intersections with traffic lights and capturing pictures of license plates as cars pass under a red light. Then, a citation, along with a photo of the driver running the red light, can be mailed to the offender. Everything is intended to combat aggressive driving on multi-lane highways by keeping the far left lane clear of most traffic.

Red light cameras records in different cities:

• COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA: A study showed crashes of all types declined 44 percent at camera sites while those at comparison intersections declined 12 percent. Side-angle crashes dropped 90 percent at camera sites while there was no change at comparison sites.

  DALLAS: The city shut off one-fourth of its 62 red light cameras last month because some were bringing in less revenue after yellow light times were lengthened. A third of the cameras were at signals with shorter than recommended yellow times.

  LUBBOCK, TEXAS: The city removed 11 cameras in February after just six months. Crashes caused by red light running had increased at camera sites while they went down at comparison intersections. The city also fell far short of its revenue goal.

  ONTARIO: A study in the province showed collisions went up twice as much at camera intersections as at comparison intersections. Fatal and injury crashes were up at camera sites but fell at the comparison ones.

  ROME, GA.: Accidents went up and violations increased 25 percent between 2005 and last year at the intersection with a red light camera.

  SEATTLE: A 2007 study of a camera pilot project found little effect on reducing collisions, but found less injury and damage. Contrary to the trend in many places, there were no rear-end collisions at the test sites.

The real issue is the duration of the yellow light; is it too short? Usually if it turns yellow as you enter the intersection, by the time you get into the intersection it is already red. This needs to be changed? Are drivers who expect a longer yellow than they're getting causing a spike in the accident stat when they jam on the brakes at the early red?

American Traffic Solutions, Traffipax Traffic Safety Systems and Redflex Traffic Systems representatives all boasted reductions in intersection crashes as a result of using their systems, but each company has a different way of generating images and video of red light offenders.

There is a raging debate in the traffic engineering and safety communities over red light cameras vs. signal timing.

ITE Factor:

The City uses the Institute of Transportation Engineers (“ITE”) formula to determine yellow light duration.   The ITE formula considers time and distance and the goal is to allow those who are unable to stop to proceed through the intersection while the light is yellow and to allow those who are farther away to stop in a sufficient period of time.  Using this formula, 3.0 seconds was an appropriate yellow light duration.

The changes in the yellow signal timing regulations have resulted in the inadequate yellow times. And these inadequate yellow times are the likely cause of almost 80 percent of red light entries. Whether short yellow lights create more violations, and thus create an appropriate (or inappropriate) location for the installation of a red light camera, is not clear from the record. In the early 90s, however, the ITE changed its formula to reduce yellow times as red light cameras were being introduced into the United State.

Under the 1976 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) formula it should be 4.5 seconds, or more, because of particular visibility issues at the location. The Rocky Mountain News videotape shows clearly how an extra 1.5 seconds would eliminate the problem of red light entry at the intersection.

If the yellow indication were illuminated; if a driver crossing this point when the light changed to yellow made the decision instead to proceed, he would have to reach the stop line before the light changed to red to enter the intersection legally.

Denver's city engineer promised to "review" the city's yellow timing policy. In nearby Fort Collins, the installation of a red light camera at College Avenue and Drake Road did nothing but increase the accident rate by 45 percent. Immediately after increasing the yellow light duration by one second, violations plunged and the accident rate dropped 30 percent -- from 2.8 to 2.0 accidents per million vehicle entries.

If cites examples of problem intersections where yellow times have been raised by about 30 percent and the number of people entering on red fell dramatically. It cites, in addition, controlled scientific studies that confirm the hypothesis that longer yellows are better. The following reductions in red light entries are documented: 

It is no coincidence that each of the "problem" intersections mentioned above happened to have yellow times that fell short by about 30 percent. Today's formula for calculating yellow times yields yellow times that can in some cases be about 30 percent shorter than the older formula.

Advantages:

• In a study done by the Federal Highway Administration, red light cameras proved to reduce the number of accident related injuries nationwide. But some cities are shutting their cameras down, claiming the cameras are so effective, drivers are stopping at intersections and not enough fines are being given.
• A Texas Transportation Institute study says that a yellow light time of one second less than the ITE formula doubles the number of red light runners and more than triples the accident rate of an appropriate timing.
• Comprehensive studies say the trade-off is a greater number of rear-enders. Cameras prompt drivers to jam on their brakes at the first sight of a yellow light to avoid tickets even when they may be too close to safely stop.
• Nearly 70 percent of the accidents reported at that particular intersection resulted from drivers following too closely and only four were due to a red light violation.
• The existing cameras help step up traffic enforcement at areas during specific times without requiring police to dedicate personnel to the task, said Maj. Travis Goss, with the Rome Police Department.
• Reports from Chicago of a decrease in crashes at camera-covered intersections support the value of red light cameras.
• According to  San Bernardino Police Department statistics, the current cameras - the first of which were installed in July 2005 - have been successful in reducing accidents and injuries. The cameras, leased from Providence, R.I.-based Nestor Traffic Systems Inc. at a cost of $391,200 annually, have resulted in more than 10,000 citations while dropping collisions and injuries by more than half, according to statistics provided by Lt. Scott Paterson, a police spokesman.

Disadvantages:

• A Texas Transportation Institute study says that a yellow light time of one second less than the ITE formula doubles the  number of red light runners and more than triples the accident rate of an appropriate timing.
• They also found that adding one second over the ITE formula reduced violations another 60 percent and crashes by up to 40 percent.
• Accidents at four Aurora intersections with cameras went up 36 percent in 2006, the first year. In Fort Collins, accidents went up 83 percent in 10 years at a corner after a camera went in, while tickets averaged 166 a month
• These cameras only catch your plate, not your face, which means that it's possible someone else could drive your car through a red light and you get the ticket, even though you didn't break any laws.  
• A year's worth of stats revealed that the cameras didn't deter drivers, but they sure hauled in a load of cash, nearly $500,000 in fines. Between March 2006 and March 2007, the number of citations issued rose from 452 to 491. In October 2007, citations hit a high of 543, while January 2008 saw 616.
• Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is particularly important to Florida’s elderly drivers, the researchers recommend.
•  University of South Florida public health researchers surveyed red light camera data from Virginia, North Carolina and Ontario. Comprehensive studies from North Carolina, Virginia, and Ontario have all reported cameras are significantly associated with increases in crashes, as well as crashes involving injuries. The study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council also found that cameras were linked to increased crash costs. If used in Florida, cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes due to the state’s high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs.”
• Some studies that conclude cameras reduced crashes or injuries contained major “research design flaws,” such as incomplete data or inadequate analyses, and were conducted by researchers with links to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS, funded by automobile insurance companies, is the leading advocate for red-light cameras. Insurers can profit from red-light cameras, since their revenues will increase when higher premiums are charged due to the crash and citation increase, the researchers say.
• The report concluded cameras are associated with increased crashes, the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running, and most research concluding cameras are effective was conducted by one researcher from the IIHS. Since then, studies independent of the automobile insurance industry continue to find cameras are associated with large increases in crashes.

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