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Virginia Beach Hides Data Showing Increased Red Light Camera Injuries

Mike

Site Co-Founder
Joined
May 13, 2006
Messages
8,706
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/42/4206.asp

SNIP

Virginia Beach Hides Data Showing Increased Red Light Camera Injuries

More people ended up in the hospital after Virginia Beach, Virginia installed red light cameras.

After holding out for more than three years, officials in Virginia Beach, Virginia finally released accident data that raise serious questions about whether the use of red light cameras has improved traffic safety in the city. Comparing three years before and three years after camera installation, the number of injury accidents went down 12 percent throughout the city. At the twelve intersections where red light camera tickets are issued, however, injury accidents went up 5 percent over the same period.

"The red light cameras made intersection safety measurably worse, yet Virginia Beach is on the cusp of renewing their red-light camera contract with vendor Redflex at the end of this month," National Motorists Association (NMA) President Gary Biller told TheNewspaper. "Withholding damning injury crash data until this late stage in the contract renewal process seems like a deliberative effort by the city to keep residents in the dark about the poor safety performance of the ticket cameras."

The NMA first requested the preliminary accident results in September 2010. The group repeated the public records request several times as consideration of the contract renewal with the Australian photo enforcement vendor grew near, only to be told the information was "not ready yet." After finally releasing the information, city officials dismissed the relevance of the climbing injury rate.

. . .
 

Kopis

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
674
Location
Nashville, TN
No suprise, people act like idiots and jam on their brakes coming to a screeching stop to avoid running through a simple yellow light. There have been several cities caught reducing the yellow light time when they installed red light cameras to INCREASE revenues. Some cities were even caught reducing the yellow light time below the federal minimum of 3.7 seconds. The simplest way to reduce accidents is increase the yellow light time .5-1 second.

Furthermore, these cameras arent forcefields that stop red light runners who arent aware of them, are texting/oblivious to the world or drunk beyond reason. Those drivers still run the light and cause an accident.

www.ticketassassin.com has good info.
 

Kopis

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
674
Location
Nashville, TN
The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is not mandatory and has not been adopted by all states.

Yes but reducing yellow light times when a city installs red light cameras show obvious intent to increase revenues.
 

Jack House

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
2,611
Location
I80, USA
Yes but reducing yellow light times when a city installs red light cameras show obvious intent to increase revenues.
With criminal disregard to the well being of it's citizens. It's been proven time and again that red light cameras, especially when coupled with shorter yellow lights, increase the risk of accidents.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
That is right..i agree with you..

As does the simple fact they knew red-light cameras were increasing crashes, yet want to renew them.

Withholding the statistics is quite damning.

What kind of person knows there will be more injuries to total strangers but goes ahead anyway? That's not just government or bureaucracy. That's a sociopath.
 
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Mike

Site Co-Founder
Joined
May 13, 2006
Messages
8,706
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
Key point - Virginia law requires personal service trigger contempt of court for failing to appear - mailed red light camera tickets are not enough - the more people ignore the mailed tickets, the less likely localities will put up red light cameras.
 
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