INEFFECTIVE AND LESS SAFE

Reports and data continue to surface showing photo enforcement to be ineffective at best and in many cases, making roads more dangerous where cameras are installed. Be careful when evaluating pro-camera studies as they often do not account for changes in traffic volume and do not compare camera-equipped locations to locations without cameras.

NOTE: Not all of these articles are about Redflex services and equipment. This page is to show the ineffectiveness of photo enforcement in general. For a more complete list of references to articles about cameras NOT improving safety, please see PhotoRadarScam.com (opens in a new window).

New Mexico: Report Finds No Proven Red Light Camera Benefit
Jan. 9, 2012 | TheNewspaper.com | Article

Excerpt:
The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico commissioned a local university last year to come up with a report justifying the use of red light cameras in the community. After examining city-supplied data New Mexico State University (NMSU) researchers stretched to find something positive to say in a study released Tuesday.

Overall, the study found a decrease in accidents at two camera intersections, an increase at one and no change at the fourth. This compares to the control intersections where there were three decreases, two increases and one without any change. None of these changes, however, were large enough to carry definitive scientific weight. The researchers focused on the single intersection with the most positive result.

Washington: Report Finds [ATS] Red Light Camera Installation Unjustified
Oct. 25, 2011 | TheNewspaper.com | Article

Excerpt:
A report released last week by the engineering firm Gibson Traffic Consultants (GTC) found the use of red light cameras unjustified in Bellingham, Washington. The study gathered collision data from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the city to conclude the use of an automated ticketing machine at the intersection of Guide Meridian Road at Telegraph Road was unwarranted.

The report argues that proper engineering practices require jurisdictions to install photo enforcement only after performing an engineering evaluation and exhausting all possible countermeasures, including adjusting the length of the yellow light and improving signal visibility. Bellingham performed no study before deciding to allow American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to install and operate the camera. Instead, it made the decision after ATS found 34 potential tickets after eight hours of monitoring.

Springs May End [ATS] Red Light Camera Program
Sep. 29, 2011 | KRDO.com | Article

Excerpt:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The City of Colorado Springs is considering ending its red light camera program, saying it did not meet safety expectations.

Bell Gardens Ends Redflex Camera Program after no improvement in safety
Sep. 29, 2011 | EGPNews.com | Article

Excerpt:
The Bell Gardens City Council on Monday unanimously approved a motion to allow the city’s redlight traffic camera contract to expire and to send a letter opposing the local water company‘s proposal to increase water rates.

Councilmember Pedro Aceituno motioned that the contract with RedFlex Traffic Systems, Inc. not be renewed after city staff reported the traffic cameras had not significantly affected the number of injury accidents at the intersection of Florence and Eastern Avenues, and the police department said there were unanticipated personnel costs to manage the system.

Peoria will deactivate red-light cameras on Oct. 3 [After Accidents Continue to Increase]
Sep. 22, 2011 | AZcentral.com | Article

Excerpt:
The city will not renew its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems after learning from police that crashes at monitored intersections actually increased during the three-year pilot program.

Crashes Increase at [Redflex] Red Light Camera Intersection
Sep. 20, 2011 | NewsPlex.com | Article

Excerpt:
The controversial safety measure was pitched as a way to discourage drivers from running red lights, thus reducing the number of crashes. New data just released by the Albemarle County Police Department shows the number of wrecks actually increased since the installation of the cameras, albeit barely.

Accident figures suggest speed cameras are not saving lives
Sep. 3, 2011 | Daily Gazette | Article

Excerpt:
SPEED cameras installed to stop accidents are not doing their job, according to national figures.

Serious accidents and fatalities are still being recorded on roads where cameras are positioned around Colchester.

The information came to light this week after the Government, for the first time, released statistics on the number of accidents and fatal crashes at camera sites.

Rider killed braking for a speed camera
Aug. 26, 2011 | MotorCycleNews.com | Article

Excerpt:
A motorcyclist was killed after braking too hard for a speed camera, a coroner said.

[Denton's Redflex] Red-light program in the red so far
Jul 9, 2010 | Denton Record-Chronicle | Article

Excerpts:

The city of Denton has collected more than $1.8 million from red-light camera violations since installing the cameras in 2006 but has seen little profit, as operating costs exceed revenues, city records show.

The number of accidents at the camera-monitored intersections fluctuated with no clear trend from 2004, before the cameras, to 2009, the most recent year for which accident figures were available.

Records show violations continued to fall through 2008 before beginning to climb. From 2009 to 2010, the number of violations more than doubled — to 7,887.

Accidents fall at Houston red-light camera intersections [After Cameras Turned Off]
May. 11, 2010 | Chron.com | Article
Note: NOT a Redflex program.
Excerpts:

In the five months after Houston voters forced city officials to turn off a camera surveillance system that fined motorists for running red lights, traffic accidents at those 50 intersections with 70 cameras have decreased 16 percent, according to recently released data.

Do Red Light Cameras Make Green (Money) Or Red (Blood)?
Mar. 17, 2010 | AOL Autos | Article

Excerpts:

In reality, however, the incidences of cars speeding through intersections when the light is red is rare; just two percent of all highway fatalities occur during red lights in intersections, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Fewer are caused by cars intentionally running red lights.

This small slice of traffic enforcement, though, is creating big headlines. There is a fervor in many state legislatures and in regional referendums to ban "red light cameras". The reason is that in some cases the devices seem to cause an increase in accidents at intersections.

Effect of red-light cameras in Salem is debatable
Dec. 3, 2010 | StatesmanJournal.com | Article

Excerpts:
Whether the installation of red-light cameras at a busy intersection in southeast Salem has reduced violations and crashes depends on who you ask.

Salem Police said they've seen fewer violations and crashes at Mission and 25th streets SE since two cameras were installed there more than two years ago.

But officials with the Oregon Department of Transportation maintain that crashes at that location have gone up. ODOT monitors that area because Mission Street also is a state highway.

New Mexico: Study Shows Photo Enforcement Increased Accidents
Oct. 26, 2010 | TheNewspaper.com | Article

Excerpt:
Photo enforcement cameras are temporarily disabled in Albuquerque, New Mexico after a study by the University of New Mexico failed to offer a complete justification for the program. Mayor Richard J. Berry announced that he would eliminate six of the twenty red light camera intersections where accidents increased the most. He also will stop issuing speed camera citations at intersections -- although he plans to keep three vans to set up mobile photo radar traps. While the contract with Redflex Traffic Systems is expired, Berry is seeking a better deal from other photo ticketing vendors.

Freeways Fine after DPS [Redflex] Scameras Shut Off
Sep. 20, 2010 | CameraFraud.com | Article

Excerpt:
Now two months after the camera shutoff, KTAR is reporting that there has been NO CHANGE in driving habits according to the director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, Alberto Gutier. "I haven't seen any changes in behavior, I don't see people sort of flying down the highways, although I'm sure it exists some places."

News/Talk 92.3 KTAR's traffic reporter, "Detour Dan" Beach, believes drivers are taking advantage of the speed cameras disappearance. But even so, it does not appear to have made the roads any more dangerous, as Beach says that he has not seen an increase in crashes.

California: Longer Yellows Nearly Eliminate Violations
Feb. 19, 2010 | The Newspaper | Article

Excerpt:
The council, on the other hand, was extremely pleased with the results of lengthening yellow lights by one second in November. The number of left-turn violations dropped 80 to 85 percent from about 240 monthly violations to about 25 or 30 a month immediately after the change. Straight through violations were reduced 92 percent.

SPEED CAMERAS 'CAN'T CATCH MOTORBIKES'
Feb. 14, 2010 | Express.co.uk | Article

Excerpt:
MOTORISTS have accused the Government of running a revenue-raising "scam" after a report revealed that "average speed" - cameras can't catch motorbikes.

New Mexico: Red Light Cameras Fail to Reduce Accidents
Feb. 12, 2010 | The Newspaper | Article

Excerpt:
Photo enforcement may not be improving traffic safety in Las Cruces, New Mexico. According to preliminary data presented to the city council on Monday, the installation of red light cameras and speed cameras in March 2009 has thus far failed to produce any statistically significant reduction in accidents. The city's public works department, in close consultation with Redflex Traffic Systems, did try to argue that the numbers showed the program was worth keeping.

Accidents up despite Spokane red light cameras
Jan. 6, 2010 | Seattle Times | Article

Excerpt:
Intersections where Spokane installed red light cameras in 2008 in the name of safety saw an increase in crashes and injuries in the first year of the controversial program.

There were 38 collisions at the three intersections the year after the city began fining violators caught on tape. That's up from 32 the previous year, according to police collision reports provided to The Spokesman-Review.

Injury accidents at the intersections also rose from 11 the year before to 14 after.

Tennessee: Early Results Poor For Clarksville Traffic Cameras
Dec. 4, 2009 | The Newspaper | Article

Excerpt:
After their first six months of use, the red light cameras in Clarksville, Tennessee have failed to produce any reduction in the number of accidents. The city's first three cameras were installed May 1, and a comparison of accidents at these locations from May to the end of October compared to the same period in 2007 and 2008 shows that the total number of collisions jumped 22 percent following the installation of cameras.

Do Cameras Make Intersections More Dangerous?
Nov. 9, 2009 | CBS2.com | Article

Excerpt:
In Los Angeles the LAPD claims accidents are down after they installed cameras, but are they telling the whole truth or just trying to make money off motorists?     

We looked at every accident at every red light camera intersection for six months of data before the cameras were installed and six months after.

The final figures? Twenty of the 32 intersections show accidents up after the cameras were installed! Three remained the same and only nine intersections showed accidents decreasing.

INVESTIGATION: Are one community's red light cameras effective?
Nov. 6, 2009 | Action News | Article

Excerpt:
According to the Temple Terrace Police, the number of accidents at intersections with red light cameras from when they first went operational October 2008 through February of this year were up 133 percent compared to the previous year when there were no cameras.

Excerpt:
Accidents increased significantly at intersections equipped with red light cameras in Grande Prairie, Canada according to a city report completed last month. The review found that after a full year of use, cameras generated $1.2 million in revenue along with a 126 percent increase in injury collisions.

California: Costa Mesa Red Light Cameras Increased Accidents
Sep. 3, 2009 | AZCentral.com | Article

Excerpt:
Whether they like photo enforcement, Peoria leaders seem to agree on one thing: it's not clear whether red light cameras are actually making the city's streets any safer.

According to numbers from the Police Department, collisions at the four intersections have doubled since a private company finished installing red light cameras in June 2008.

Peoria officials question the value of red-light cameras
Aug. 31, 2009 | AZCentral.com | Article

Excerpt:
Whether they like photo enforcement, Peoria leaders seem to agree on one thing: it's not clear whether red light cameras are actually making the city's streets any safer.

According to numbers from the Police Department, collisions at the four intersections have doubled since a private company finished installing red light cameras in June 2008.

Close to two-thirds of photos taken by speed cameras tossed                                   
May 15, 2009 | AZCentral.com | Article

Excerpt:
Motorists activated photo-enforcement cameras on Arizona highways more than 471,000 times from December through February - more than 5,200 times each day - but on average, only about one-third of those drivers received tickets from the state Department of Public Safety.

An Arizona Republic analysis of three months of records shows Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. and the DPS threw out more than 65 percent of the photos captured.