Los Angeles May Dump Red Light Cameras

from the pushback dept

We've been hearing more and more stories of late about cities with red light cameras deciding that they're just not worth it. A lot of these have been smaller cities, however, so it's interesting to hear (via btr1701) that Los Angeles is now considering dumping its red light cameras. Apparently the civilian Police Commission that oversees the police department has put the program on hold, much to the chagrin of the police themselves, who were in favor of the proposal. The commission's main concern appeared to be the fact that for all the redlight camera tickets being sent, most were never collected, and there was no effort to collect -- raising questions about the effectiveness of the program. Separately, studies had shown "no evidence the cameras reduced accidents, deaths or injuries at the intersections where they were placed and in fact, found those numbers actually increased at some intersections."

Filed Under: los angeles, red light cameras

Houston Votes To Turn Off Red Light Cameras; City Officials Trying To Figure Out How To Cancel Contract

from the redlight-cameras-get-the-red-light dept

btr1701 alerts us to the news that Houston residents have voted to get rid of red light cameras around Houston. The vote was actually pretty close, with 52.82% wanting to ditch the cameras, and 47.18% wanting to keep them. Of course, the cameras might not disappear all that quickly. It turns out that the city -- which has made $44 million from the cameras -- has a contract with the camera provider that runs for another four years. There is a 120-day cancellation policy, so the absolute soonest that the cameras might turn off is four months or so in the future. However, the city is currently reviewing its "options." And, of course, any citation sent out while this is going on is still a valid citation, so Houston drivers shouldn't run around thinking that the cameras are already off.

Filed Under: contracts, houston, red light cameras, speed cameras

Italian Officials Charged For Corruption In Red Light Camera Deal

from the all-done-to-bump-up-revenue dept

Over and over again we've seen cases where cities clearly put in red light cameras not for safety purposes (despite that being the "official" reason), but to increase revenue. For example, many cities have been caught decreasing the time of the yellow light before it turns red -- a move that definitely increases accidents and puts people at risk, against the law. However, since it increases the number of cars that run red lights, it means more revenue. If this all seems very corrupt, it appears that in at least some places, that corruption might be explicit. Reader Murdock points us to the news that 38 public officials in Italy may face charges for accepting kickbacks and bribes in association with a redlight camera company, to install such cameras, decrease the timing on yellow lights, and then collect money. Oh, and it worked. Lots of money was made, but it's not clear that anyone was any safer.

Filed Under: corruption, italy, red light cameras

Yet Another Cheating Red Light Camera

from the green-light dept

Stories about the outrage over red light cameras have started to go mainstream. And given that some suspect the cameras are rigged in favor of revenue over safety, it's to be expected that some of the caught drivers would start to fight back. Reader Josh submitted this story about a math tutor, Mike Mogil, who took it upon himself to challenge the red light ticket his wife received by claiming that the yellow light was unfairly short (via the Consumerist). Armed with a stopwatch, Mogil timed the yellow lights in his town and found that the yellow light in question only lasted 3.8 seconds, much shorter than the 4.5 seconds that the county guidelines require. With this information, he challenged the ticket, which was then dropped by the courts. That said, this is not the first time that red light cameras have been found to be unfairly trapping motorists. After all, since red light camera programs can be big revenue generators, there is great incentive to cheat a little to bump up the revenue. The result is just another reminder that it could pay to fight if you ever get trapped. That said, if our governments need more revenue, perhaps they should find it through more honest, transparent means rather than under the false guise of public safety.

Filed Under: red light cameras

Anger Against Red Light And Speed Cameras Going Mainstream

from the people-don't-like-'em dept

A bunch of folks have submitted this recent Washington Post article about the growing anger and resentment towards red light and speed cameras. We've posted similar articles in the past, but this is one of the first times I've seen the topic discussed in a major mainstream paper. The discussion basically hits on all the high points, showing that people really hate the devices and that the reason they're so popular is not safety, but revenue. It also looks at the stats, talking about a few different studies. It does mention one study claiming that the cameras have decreased accidents and fatalities, but then notes numerous other studies that disagree, and digs into the details of the original study to find that it does not account for multiple other factors. At best, the studies seem to indicate that red light and speed cameras do not decrease accident rates (in one damning study, a town that got rid of its cameras saw a bigger decrease in accidents than a neighboring town that installed them). In the end, it's quite clear that the cameras are entirely about money, and have nothing to do with safety -- and it's nice to see more people recognizing this issue.

Filed Under: anger, red light cameras, speed cameras
Companies: redflex

Red Light Camera Vendor Not Doing So Well With Public Opposition Driving Down Its Revenue

from the awww...-too-bad dept

There's been significant growing opposition to red light camera programs, which have a long history of showing absolutely no safety benefit, and are often run for-profit by local governments in combination with private companies. That opposition is leading more and more cities and towns to dump the red light cameras -- while some operators are getting caught illegally decreasing the time of the yellow or amber lights to try to issue more fines.

Jeff Nolan alerts us to the news that one of the biggest players in the space, Redflex, has announced that public opposition to its cameras has created a real drain on revenue, and its profits were down significantly. This would be the same Redflex that just so happened to fail to live up to its contract in Denver to deliver data that could be used to determine whether or not the cameras were really effective.

Filed Under: profits, red light cameras
Companies: redflex

Judge Throws Out Red Light Camera Tickets As Program Declared Illegal And Void

from the revenue,-not-safety dept

Yet again, we find out about a story of a city putting in place red light cameras, and using them not to increase public safety (per the official claim of the city) but to drive revenue -- even by shortening the length of yellow lights to under the legal limit, thereby increasing both ticket revenue and accidents. Luckily, this time, in Santa Ana, California, a judge has declared the whole program illegal and declared all of those who received the tickets under the program as "not guilty" (found via Jeff Nolan). There were a few reasons for this. First, the city broke the law in not clearly announcing which traffic lights would have the cameras with 30 days' notice. In fact, the city actually moved the cameras around with no notice in an attempt to maximize revenue. The city claimed that it gave notice... by stating at a city council meeting that they'd be moving the cameras around, but without indicating where. Also, the city had promised that the lights would have a minimum yellow light of 4.4 seconds, but 17 of 18 lights checked had yellow lights that were less than 4.0 seconds, which makes a huge difference. The judge also specifically ruled that the people who got tickets this way were "not guilty" rather than just dismissing their cases, to avoid having their cases somehow reinstated.

Filed Under: illegal, red light cameras, santa ana
Companies: redflex

Why Won't Local Governments Just Increase The Length Of Yellow Lights?

from the start-a-campaign dept

We've seen that, thanks to the economy, states like Maryland and New York are ramping up programs for speed and red light cameras. However, that's not true of all places. Mississippi recently went the other direction and banned such traffic cameras, following a similar backlash in Arizona. A recent Wall Street Journal article takes a look at all of this (including the fact that some of the bigger traffic camera companies are based in Arizona) and raises the key question: why won't local governments just increase the length of yellow lights on traffic signals. That, alone, would save numerous accidents (and lives). Yet, many governments have been doing the exact opposite: putting lives at risk, just to bring in more revenue (often to pay off those private companies that installed the cameras). On top of that, there are still plenty of locations that don't leave any pause between switching lights between cross traffic. Here in California, for example, it's quite rare for there to be any pause between a light turning red in one direction, and the perpendicular traffic light turning green. Studies have shown that a slight pause -- where all directions are red -- decreases the number of accidents as well. And yet... governments focus on using traffic cameras solely to increase revenue.

Filed Under: red light cameras, revenue, safety, traffic cameras, yellow lights

Texas City Councilman Arrested After Opposing Red Light Cameras

from the hush-up-or-you-might-get-a-ticket dept

There's been plenty of debate about traffic cameras lately, with many cities and states rushing to implement them as revenue generators rather than out of any sense of safety. Reader Brad points us to a story out of Duncanville, Texas, where a city councilman spoke up at a city council meeting opposing current red light camera laws, and the mayor had him arrested and removed during the meeting. The story presented at the link may be a bit one-sided (so there may certainly be more to this story), but the council member felt that the redlight cameras were unfair -- and that there were other, better ways for the city to meet its budget. Apparently, the mayor told him if he continued to debate the issue, he would be arrested... and then lived up to that threat. Who knew redlight cameras could be so controversial that speaking out against them could get you arrested?

Filed Under: red light cameras, texas

Cities Upset That Increasing Yellow Light Time Length Reduces 'Revenue'

from the safety-first? dept

With the news that Mississippi has passed a law banning traffic light cameras because it's an invasion of privacy, it's worth looking a bit to the east, where some cities in Georgia are taking down their red light cameras not because of privacy issues, but because a new law required them to increase the length of time that a light is yellow by one second -- and that's decreased red light violations so significantly, that red light cameras have become "too expensive" (thanks to Scott Cauthen for sending that story in). This is what critics of red light cameras have said from the beginning: it's always been about the revenue, rather than the safety. If you want safety, all you need to do is increase the length of yellow lights, and you have fewer people running red lights and significantly fewer accidents. But... if revenue is your goal, then you do things like decrease the yellow light timing -- which is what a few cities have been caught doing.

Filed Under: georgia, mississippi, red light cameras