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from the but-they-do-work-to-raise-ticket-income dept.
Red-light cameras don't reduce the number of traffic accidents or injuries at intersections where the devices are installed, according a new analysis by Case Western Reserve University.
Touted by supporters as a way increase public safety by ticketing drivers who continue through red lights, the cameras actually shift traffic patterns: More drivers tend to brake harder and more abruptly, increasing fender-benders and other so-called "non-angle" collisions.
"Once drivers knew about the cameras, they appeared to accept a higher accident risk from slamming on their brakes at yellow lights to avoid an expensive traffic citation—thereby decreasing safety for themselves and other drivers," said Justin Gallagher, an assistant professor of economics at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve.
Accidents didn't decrease, only shift.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday July 20 2018, @07:57PM (1 child)
LOL, you'd already won by the time they muzzled you on a technicality. Hopefully a few audience members were recording the whole thing. Are there any recordings of it online?
When I was hit with a red light camera ticket from Plano, Texas, I recorded the timings of the traffic signals at the offending intersection (Plano Pkwy at the Dallas North Tollway). Yep, the yellow was too short. It was a 40 mph zone. and there's an informal standard of 1 second per 10 mph of speed limit, and that's seemingly what the city was using. It's not good enough, especially at higher speeds. And then they cheated on their standard. That yellow was only 3.9 seconds long.
I took my evidence to the hearing I requested, and it was of course ignored. I expected as much. What I was really trying to do was make sure the city was not going to make any money off of me with a traffic light scam. I'm sure the hearing cost the city way more than the fine. If only everyone would demand a hearing, the system would overload and collapse. And it would show the politicians that they'd better not push citizens around and try such scams.
Anyway, their scamera program is still the city's pride and joy, and I am still boycotting them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @11:00PM
I've not be able to find a recording of it. Despite all the meetings being recorded and transcribed for decades, that one is missing from their archive. So are a few others that were contentious for other reasons, like the one where they voted to remove a pedestrian bridge next to the school that went over the interstate, which has a total of 8 lanes and 4 entrance/exit roads at that particular spot, because the kids who walk to school can add a mile and a half to their walk to get to the one bridge with a sidewalk. But all that happened before the IPIB was put in place, so there is nothing that can be done.