Red Light Cameras: Do They Really Make Any Difference?

It is time for Fremont to conduct a full review of the city's Red Light Camera Program.

Questions which need answers:

Is it working?  Are violations being reduced by the presence of the cameras?

Has safety been improved because of cameras?

I have spent years compiling data from Fremont's red light camera system and here is what I know.

The number of violations is not coming down.  Each year the violations are virtually the same.  Sometimes a few more; sometimes a few less.

The only accident data available is over generalized and not specific to accident rates before, during, and after the advent of cameras.  Accident data which is actually related to red light running  needs to be produced.  The only accident reports I have obtained from Fremont are unclear and may indicate, if anything, that accident rates have increased after the advent of cameras.

I would like to call your attention to the recent findings of the Hayward Police Dept.  Their Chief of Police, Diane Urban, concluded from that department's analysis of their own photo enforcement program that collision data is "consistently inconsistent."  Broadside accidents (T-bones) actually had increased at some photo enforced locations and overall rear end collisions had increased.

The City Council of Hayward opted to terminate its agreement with Redflex before its contractual termination date.  In their words, "as soon as practical."  Special mention was made to the $15 million in fines, fees, and assessments which would have been imposed on residents and visitors for a "program which was not working."

Special attention should also be paid to the dramatic effect that extending the yellow light times at intersections has on reducing red light running.  This engineering change actually took place in Fremont at just one photo enforced approach and the result was that the straight through types of violations dropped by over 70% - immediately.  And there has been no rebound effect in the ensuing 28 months.

Also, special attention should be paid to the extreme penalties meted out to those guilty of "Hollywood stops," . . . the rolling right turns.  Fremont in the year 2012 sent citations to 2,766 offenders for not coming to a complete stop before turning right.  These citations included fines, fees, and assessments of $1,327,000.  Factor in the related costs of increased insurance premiums and traffic school fees and the costs to motorists may be double.  And why?

When Fremont originally considered its Red Light Camera Program, there was no discussion of the need to heavily enforce or penalize the illegal right turners.  The fine is the same for the potentially more dangerous straight through violations.  Nor was this type of infraction mentioned during the hearing on the renewal of that agreement in 2010.  This type of infraction actually rarely results in accidents.  Jay Beeber, the founder and director of Safer Streets L.A. in a study of all 56,000 collisions in Los Angeles, found that not stopping before turning right was listed as a causal factor only 45 times and that the chance of causing an accident by opening a driver side door into traffic was 3 times more likely to cause an accident.  He was commended by the L.A. police commission for his study.  Los Angeles subsequently canceled its camera program.

Now is the time to ask for some transparency in government.  If the camera program provides a safety benefit, show us.  If the camera program actually reduces red light violations, show us.  And let us measure the costs to society.  At some point, the economic harm of taking minimally $4 million dollars each year out of the economy and funneling it into government has to be considered.  Would we not be better served to have those driving in Fremont spend that money on goods and services here?

Roger Jones
rlouisj@aol.com

To Join the Red Light Camera Protest Group of Alameda County click on link below and then the "Join" button. There is no cost or obligation.

http://www.meetup.com/Red-Light-Camera-Protest-Group-of-Southern-Alameda...

http://blogs.lawyers.com/2013/04/red-light-cameras-money-trap-video/