Red light camcorders are being installed in a growing number of United States cities. Red light video cameras are looked upon by most motorists as money cows instead of traffic safety equipment. However a drop in traffic fatalities, as well as a rise in revenues, has been attributed to red light cameras in an insurance industry study. The short term loans that cities had to sign up for in order to put up these cameras have proven to be worthwhile.
Less traffic deaths with red light surveillance cameras in place
Cities ought to be appreciative of the red light video cameras installed. This is because, as the Insurance institute for Highway Safety explains, they work as advertised. The research industry did a study that was released explained the number of traffic deaths went down within the five years that red light camcorders have been in intersections. There has been a 26 percent decrease. Researchers compared traffic accident data from 14 large U.S. cities with red light cameras against 48 others without them from 2004 to 2008. Traffic fatalities fell for cities in both categories, however the rate of deadly crashes dropped faster in cities with red light video cameras. A decrease in rear-end collisions were shown with the red light cameras. However, the T-bone collisions dropped significantly.
Red light statistics with a camera
Figures about red light surveillance camera include more things. In fact, federal government recorded data is in there also. About 41 percent of crashes, 2.2 million, happened at intersections in 2009. The crashes killed 7.358 individuals. Another 81,112 individuals were hurt by it. Due to red light running, 676 of those fatalities were caused. Also, 113,000 of the injuries occurred with running red lights. About 64 percent of the people who died, including passengers, other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, were killed by the person running the red light. If red light cameras had been in use in all 99 cities included within the research, the researchers estimated that 815 lives would have been saved.
Getting red light camcorders banned
Red light camera revenue results in millions of dollars for the cities that use them. About $7.2 million in revenue was made from June 2009 to May 2010 by Washington D.C. This was solely off of the 85,678 red light citations that were made. In the U.S. about half the states permit red light camcorders. In 2000, just 25 cities installed them. Now, you will find many more individuals that use red light surveillance cameras. In fact, 500 cities use them. Intersections would be safer with longer yellow lights in accordance with the National Motorists Association. Calling red light camcorders an invasion of privacy and heavy handed enforcement, several cities within the United States have banned red light cameras with voter initiatives.
Articles cited
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/01/AR2011020100021.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Wall Street Journal
blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/02/01/red-light-cameras-get-a-boost/
Fair Warning
fairwarning.org/2011/02/red-light-cameras-save-hundreds-of-lives-on-roads-report-says/
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