Red light cam scam on the way

[imdjh]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1000231.html

Florida could green light red-light cameras on state roads
A proposal moving in the Legislature would let municipalities install cameras to snare red-light runners on state roads.

BY BREANNE GILPATRICK
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- As more Florida cities and counties focus surveillance cameras on intersections, state legislators are closer than ever to green-lighting the devices to ticket people by remote control.

Right now, state law prohibits local governments from installing the cameras on state-owned property to snare red-light runners.

These camera schemes have been shown to be a scam time after time. Damn it! When the people voted to lower taxes they didn't vote to have the state and counties come up with workarounds to gouge us, they voted to lower spending.

The defense of these cams is always the same: if you don't run red lights, then you have nothing to fear. Use the internet- these cameras don't reduce the number of accidents or fatalities. ALl they do is generate money, largely for the select companies which sell and operate them and you can bet those guys have salesmen in the offices of the legislators.

Fight this.

[imdjh]

1. red light cams increase accidents

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311151159.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2008) — Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is particularly important to Florida’s elderly drivers, the researchers recommend.

“The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work,” said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health.

“Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections. If used in Florida, cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes due to the state’s high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs.”

Red-light cameras photograph violators who are then sent tickets in the mail. Hillsborough County Commissioners unanimously agreed earlier this month to install the cameras at several major intersections in the county. The devices could be adopted by more cities and counties if Florida legislators pave the way by changing a state law this spring.

The USF report highlights trends in red-light running in Florida, summarizes major studies, and analyzes the automobile insurance industry’s financial interest in cameras. Among the findings:

Traffic fatalities caused by red-light running are not increasing in Florida and account for less than 4 percent of the state’s yearly traffic deaths. In contrast, more than 22 percent of the state’s traffic fatalities occur at intersections for reasons other than red-light running.
The injury rate from red-light running crashes has dropped by a third in less than a decade, indicating red-light running crashes have been continually declining in Florida without the use of cameras.
Comprehensive studies from North Carolina, Virginia, and Ontario have all reported cameras are significantly associated with increases in crashes, as well as crashes involving injuries. The study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council also found that cameras were linked to increased crash costs.
Some studies that conclude cameras reduced crashes or injuries contained major “research design flaws,” such as incomplete data or inadequate analyses, and were conducted by researchers with links to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS, funded by automobile insurance companies, is the leading advocate for red-light cameras. Insurers can profit from red-light cameras, since their revenues will increase when higher premiums are charged due to the crash and citation increase, the researchers say.
Langland-Orban said the findings have been known for some time. She cites a 2001 paper by the Office of the Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, reporting that red-light cameras are “a hidden tax levied on motorists.” The report concluded cameras are associated with increased crashes, the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running, and most research concluding cameras are effective was conducted by one researcher from the IIHS. Since then, studies independent of the automobile insurance industry continue to find cameras are associated with large increases in crashes.

Red-light running can be reduced by engineering improvements that address factors such as signal visibility and timings, wet roads and traffic flow, the USF researchers say.

The researchers suggest local governments follow the state’s lead in designing roads and improving intersections to accommodate elderly drivers, which would ultimately benefit all drivers.

The report " Red-Light Running Cameras: Would Crashes, Injuries and Automobile Insurance Rates Increase If They Are Used in Florida?" was published in March 2008 in the Florida Public Health Review, the online journal of the college and the Florida Public Health Association. Etienne Pracht, PhD, and John Large, PhD, were the other authors of the USF public policy report.

[madeline_con]

5. "... drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections"

If they weren't speeding, they wouldn't have to abruptly stop.

Granted, if there were a sign warning "Traffic camera ahead" the problem of speeders slamming on their brakes might decrease.

[bluevoter4life]

2. I can attest to that

I am a student at the University of South Florida and for those of you that live in the area know that there are red light cameras at the intersection of Fowler and 56th. At night, I constantly see these bright flashes of light that are very distracting and I can see exactly where these cameras would cause more accidents. It took me three weeks to realize these flashes were the cameras.

[lib2DaBone]

3. I heard that the stuff you spray on your license plate does not work

. according to mythbusters... damm....

[madeline_con]

4. Sorry, I have to disagree...

You wrote: "The defense of these cams is always the same: if you don't run red lights, then you have nothing to fear.

ALl they do is generate money" but......

They don't generate money if you don't run red lights. Why oppose this?

[bluevoter4life]

6. .

Because what's to say they don't program them to fire off on yellow lights? While running a yellow light is not the safest thing to do, it is still legal and you cannot (legally) be pulled over for running a yellow light. The scumbags in Tallahassee are always looking for ways to screw us. If they program them for yellow lights, they know we don't have any chance of fighting it. It's their word against ours.

[iamjoy]

7. Principle

That's like saying who cares if the government is reading your mail or listening to your phone conversations without a warrant, because if you aren't doing anything wrong you have no reason to worry.

Improving safety is often an excuse for the true, less noble causes. It could be money or power.

These cameras are problematic, even if we assume the best motives. A camera cannot take road or other traffic conditions into account. On a wet road, even if one is going the speed limit it is possible the driver will not be able to safely stop in time when a light turns yellow. There are times the intersection is blocked because of slow traffic or an obstruction, the slow down could cause people to run a red light, even if they enter while the light is green. And there are wide intersections which take longer to go through than the time the light is yellow, even in "normal" conditions.

[endeavourniche]

8. The main problem

is they don't prove who is actually driving the vehicle. So the registered owner gets tickets no matter who is driving.

[iamjoy]

9. Consider Road Conditions

For one thing, there is weather. If it is raining, stopping time/distance is increased. So, even traveling the legal speed limit, a person may feel it safer to proceed through an intersection, even if the light will turn red before they are through it, than to stop abruptly and risk hydroplaning.

The second road condition factor has to do with the width of intersections vs the timing of the light. In other words, the intersection is too wide and/or the yellow too short for some one to make it through without running a red.

And then there are special circumstances, such as a lagging or malfunctioning signal in which the light goes through several cycles staying red for some direction. A police officer at the scene would know enough not to give a citation because he/she could plainly see the problem. Some one reviewing it after the fact may not and trying to contest the ticket would create a hassle for the driver.