Study Finds Traffic-Light Cameras Hazardous

In an effort to crack down on drivers who run red lights, many municipalities across the country have installed cameras at traffic lights to catch perpetrators and ship their tickets to them through the mail.

Recently, however, a study done by the University of South Florida Public Health has found that traffic cameras may cause more accidents than they prevent. This comes on top of research in Virginia, North Carolina and the Canadian province of Ontario that also seems to indicate a correlation between traffic-light cameras and increased accidents.

What's the link? The South Florida study suggests that when drivers spot a camera during a yellow light they are more likely to slam on the brakes and perhaps be rear-ended by the driver following them. Meanwhile, red-light running accounts for less than 4% of Florida's annual traffic deaths, so the cameras may actually be doing more harm than good.

Still, reversing the trend will be hard because of the extra cash the cameras bring to cities through tickets. Do you have traffic-light cameras in your town or city? Let us know how you feel about them in the comment section.

New Study Says Traffic-Light Cameras Cause Accidents (Autopia)

Comments

[Spanky]

Big Brother cameras make me nervous. They don't allow for gray situations. Let's say that you see an 18 wheeler on your bumper and you are 50ft from the intersection going 45mph. You know if you were to stop you'll get rear ended. You continue through and the 18 wheeler is able to stop just across the white line (though well past where your rear bumper would have been). You get the ticket! He gets nothing for following too closely.

I had an incident in NYC with paying a toll. I got my ticket in the mail a couple months later (after the small dollar amount deadline had passed). Only thing is I didn't go though the toll booth without paying. A total of 45 minutes of phone conversation and a week later I was informed that I HAD paid and the camera had malfunctioned. This is what you have to look forward to.

[Al]

Studies have shown that intersections that have red light cameras coincidentally have a shorter yellow signal duration than those that don't, and worse still, the camera triggers underneath the road have been placed BEFORE the white stop line instead of under it as any driver would assume. All in a ploy to increase the incidence of "red light runners".
This is all about revenue and nothing about accident prevention.
I am waiting for a lawyer to do something useful for a change and file a class action lawsuit against the cities who use these cameras, for actually CAUSING accidents.
I am all for improving safety, but this is not about safety - it is about dishonesty and ripping off the motorist.

[DaveInLBC]

I cannot stand these cameras! Not because I run red lights, but simply because I stress every time I go through an intersection with one. Even if the light is green, I am afraid that somehow I will get stuck or it will accidentally snap a photo and BAM, big ticket arrives in the mail. But yes, it doesn't account for any errors; I have had people in front of me drive so slow when making a left turn or even going straight, and been so afraid the light would turn... Get rid of them!

[dolorean]

I'm not a legal expert, but I'm pretty sure that taking a photo of your car and license plate "running" a red light without a trial is unconstitutional. At the very least it goes against the 6th Amendment of Search and Seizure. What if my neighbor borrows my car and looks very similar to me? The DMW is not going to send him a ticket are they? And as was posted above, what about special circumstances, which normally I would be able to present at trial.

The traffic cameras are about one thing, money. It's a lovely cash cow that big cities can use for more cameras at more stop lights. It does nothing to protect the populace from miscreants who feel that yellow means go faster and red doesn't apply. It only serves as Big Brother and a lousy way to scrape a buck.

[George]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

[Sap]

I drive out of my way to avoid these rights infringers.
In some places if you beat the rap they access a $150 court cost so the third party that runs these cameras get their money without causing burdened on the taxpayers for their malfunctions.

I also don't drive a car with abs and don't want to get killed.

P.S. The license plate (aka tax id) is state property and according to them it is a privilege to have one on your car. But you have to pay the upkeep on it for them.

[Sap]

I drive out of my way to avoid these rights infringers.
In some places if you beat the rap they access a $150 court cost so the third party that runs these cameras get their money without causing burdened on the taxpayers for their malfunctions.

I also don't drive a car with abs and don't want to get killed.

P.S. The license plate (aka tax id) is state property and according to them it is a privilege to have one on your car. But you have to pay the upkeep on it for them.

[Murf]

Let's face it, we've become a gadget society. We love the gadgets that help us stay in touch, entertain us and make our jobs easier. A new gadget has entered the mix that may
just save us not only money, but our collective sanity. One of the newest must-have auto tech gadgets to hit the market warns
of upcoming speed cameras and radar traps. In cities where these cameras are used, having an advanced radar detector can save drivers lots of speeding tickets. The problem is,
most detectors on the market don't alert drivers to all fixed camera devices. That problem has been solved with Phantomplate's new PhantomAlert- A GPS based Speed Camera
and Red Light Camera Alert System that provides protection from all photo radar and red light cameras throughout the United States. From the company that brought us Photoblocker Spray, this new gadget has been called the biggest breakthrough since radar detectors. The small form GPS detector stores around 150,000 positions (camera locations) in its database, all
current cameras in North America are included. the power of this device goes beyond its advanced detection; the key data can be configured so that speed camera locations can be divided into different data sets, in order to distinguish between
positions such as fixed speed cameras, possible mobile camera positions, red light cameras, speed traps, schools, and high
collision areas.Their GPS speed camera detectors can also subdivide some of these groups by speed limit and allocate a
voice alert to warn as you approach the location.The tiny unit has an LED display on the front of the unit, which provides
information in addition to to the voice announcements. While driving normally it will display the current speed. When a
warning is triggered, a chime is heard followed by an announcement such as "camera ahead limit 60" . The speed limit at the camera site will flash before going back to
displaying the vehicles speed. This will typically happen at 500 meters (1640 feet) from the camera position. A second chime is
heard at 200 yards from the camera site. If the vehicle is still over the speed limit, a continuous warning is heard "reduce
speed" plus a warning sound until the vehicle speed drops to the speed limit. Or the camera site is passed at which time an all clear chime is heard. With just a few clicks of installation on your PC, your PhantomAlert stays up to date as camera locations are added and locations change- all online via Phantomplate's website. Simply log onto the website, and plug the unit into the PC via the USB cable (supplied). Then update the database button by following a few simple instructions.

www.phantomplate.com

[Steve]

Cameras at intersections in London stop crime, not for this desperate money-making scheme we have in L.A. That's all I have to say'bout that

I have been listening to you two all this time?
Twenty years wasted on giggling Italians? But I am sure you have the solution to my latest problem: I have been married for over 4 decades
& have a 13 yr.old Plymouth. It runs better than she does? What should I fix/keep ?

[Me]

Not only are these cameras a hazard, what most people don't know is most cities contract companies to install and maintain these cameras and this company is the one that issues the ticket. Do you want a private company who is only out to make money deciding to ticket you? Think about it, they might be willing to "FUDGE" the results a little to insure they get thier money. Just a thought.

[Me]

I suggest everyone boycott towns with traffic cameras, once the towns begin to lose money due to lost business, they will remove these cameras.

[sczech]

Another to watch out for, or another way to argue against these, is in some places the yellow lights have been shortened in duration.

And I don't think this is a 6th amendment thing. They aren't searching anything that isn't readily available to the public, and I can't see how this would be a seizure. But if you go to court then you may be able to argue that this violates due process (14 A). If there isn't another party to represent itself against you (the camera), it may work.

[Grant Guidry]

I had an incedent the other day. I was speeding, i was going 50 in a 40 after my grandmother passed away, honest i wasn't paying attention. I understand for these, however there was another time i was leaving my grandparents house a few days later and an SUV passed me up speeding (under the light). It flashed both of us, obviously i was prepared for it seeing that i had seen it before, the suburban was not however and swerved and almost hit me. I do not approve of these at all. Though, i do have a slight grudge with it seeing i got one. They just simply are not safe. and i agree with all above ^^^ money hungry cities.