filed under Daily Dose
ACLU expresses concerns about red light cameras
7:03AM ON
06/13/2008
BY
Dave Segal
I agree with most of the opinion expressed in the ACLU’s recent report. There’s very little evidence that they’re reducing accidents or saving money. And in DC there’s a large body of evidence that the traffic cameras — for whatever reason — might make things worse:
The analysis shows that the number of crashes at locations with cameras more than doubled, from 365 collisions in 1998 to 755 last year. Injury and fatal crashes climbed 81 percent, from 144 such wrecks to 262. Broadside crashes, also known as right-angle or T-bone collisions, rose 30 percent, from 81 to 106 during that time frame. Traffic specialists say broadside collisions are especially dangerous because the sides are the most vulnerable areas of cars.
The number of crashes and injury collisions at intersections with cameras rose steadily through 2001, then dipped through 2003 before spiking again last year.
The results were similar or worse than figures at intersections that have traffic signals but no cameras. The number of overall crashes at those 1,520 locations increased 64 percent; injury and fatal crashes rose 54 percent; and broadside collisions rose 17 percent.
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