5 Comments Add your own

• 1. Bearrows  |  March 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

  u people are nuts…. Which is why i no longer live in Rockford, I think you need to look at all citys in N. Texas in and around Dallas (red light camaras and no cell ban in school zone, as well as CA and I very sure many other cities as well, Why in the world would you not want them the money isn’t I don’t beleive about revenue, most of the fees go to pay for the camera, equipment, etc. anyway if a red light camera or no cell phone ban save 1 single life. if was worth it. Illionis U just don’t get it.

• 2. Conor Brown  |  March 12th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

  The “save 1 single life” argument is hollow and weak. If we address all of our public policy issues and life saftey issues with that philosophy we would ban everything. Lets prohibit driving in snow or ban motorcycles because if we could “save 1 single life” it would be worth it.

  It is well documented that this is a cash generating machine. The companies that build and lease it and muncipalities that institute it make loads of money. If this is truly about safety and not raising revenue, then I challenge the City of Rockford to charge only the cost of per ticket for the operation and rental of the machines from the company. People will be detered from running red lights whether the ticket is $25 or $125.

  While you may see side impact crashes go down, you will also see front and rear impact crashes go up equally. A 2005 federal transportation study backs that up.

  I have posted this article before, but it bears reminding. DC Red Light Cameras Fail to Reduce Accidents: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100301844_pf.html

• 3. Samal  |  March 14th, 2008 at 6:32 pm

  “A report last year, funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation, said that “cameras were associated with an increase in total crashes.”…
  Crashes were up in Stockton, California, too, from an average of 14 per year before to more than 20 per year in the 2004–6 period, after red-light cameras were installed. Same story in Seattle, where crashes rose from 4.94 per intersection before to 5.25 after cameras were installed at four intersections….

  If red-light cameras don’t reduce violations, what does? The length of the yellow light is the most important factor, says the Texas Transportation Institute, which studied 181 intersection approaches over three years. Adding one second to the Institute of Transportation Engineers formula cut violations by 53 percent. Conversely, shortening the ITE time by one second hiked violations by 110 percent.

  This dovetails neatly with a report by the California state auditor that studied camera results in eight of that state’s cities. Overall, 77 percent of the violations occur in the first second of the red. ”
  http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_columns/robot_revenuing_shots_were_fired_column

  A recent study by the University of South Florida Public Health agrees that the cameras actually cause accidents.
  http://hsc.usf.edu/publichealth/fphr/index.htm

  It’s all about the MONEY!

• 4. Samal  |  March 17th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

  DALLAS - Dallas has turned off about 15 red-light cameras used to monitor busy intersections. The city said the cameras are failing to generate enough red-light-running fines to justify their costs.

  Dallas lawmakers originally estimated a gross yearly revenue of about $15 million for the system. The city is about $4 million below that estimate.

  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23647272

• 5. Samal  |  March 27th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

  6 Cities caught shortening yellows to boost income:

  Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection.

  Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead.

  Here are some of the cities that have been caught with short yellow light times over the past few years:
  http://www.motorists.org/blog/red-light-cameras/6-cities-that-were-caught-shortening-yellow-light-times-for-profit/

  Cities at the link.

  Crossposted on the, “Sweeny Report Blog,” here:
  http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2008/03/16/whats-your-problem-with-nabbing-red-light-runners-senator/#comment-183

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