The Etownian >> Opinion
Red light cameras benefit careful drivers
Thursday May 06 2010
According to the World Health Organization, running red lights in the leads to 218,000 crashes, 880 deaths and 181,000 injuries each year costing $14 billion. This is a legitimate problem that red light cameras are designed to reduce.
“If we lengthen the yellow light maybe this could cut down on so many red lights being run,” junior Paul Brenner said in response to these statistics.
This may be true, but a driver is supposed to slow down to when the amber light is seen. Supporting this idea would encourage the dangerous driving habit of “trying to beat the red light.”
A study done by Matt Labash of “The Weekly Standard,” a conservative weekly magazine, concluded that:
• The real reason cities like the cameras is the income they produce.
• There is inadequate evidence that the cameras really reduce accidents.
• Many accidents attributed to running red lights are actually due to other causes, like drunk driving or speeding.
• More rear end accidents are caused by the presence of the cameras than the collisions they supposedly prevent.
• In the absence of better data, less intrusive measures, such as a lengthened red light, are preferable to the cameras.
With more recent data, WHO concluded that traffic cameras have reduced injuries resulting from red lights run by 12 percent. After one year traffic cameras pay for themselves two times over, and after five years that number is 12 times that of what they cost to install. The data also support that when traffic cameras are heavily publicized in an area with a high crash rate, there is a dramatic decline in the number of crashes. This study also found that in Oxnard, Calif. “the number of injury crashes fell by 29 percent and the number of front-to-side impacts involving injury fell by 68 percent, with no increase in rear impacts.”
In Washington D.C., two-and-a-half years after starting use of a camera system, $15,569,721 was generated in fines. Cameras located in the correct intersections are a legitimate way to reduce the amount of deaths and injury. The real benefit of the camera isn’t the reduction of crashes, though. The ability to generate astounding revenues such as $15 million in two-and-a-half years is reason enough for towns and cities to install red light cameras.
Think about it like this: if you’re following all the rules of the road, you have nothing to worry about. The less careful drivers are caught, and the state gets the money for road care and other beneficial programs that you can enjoy.
The Etownian >> Opinion