Red Light Cameras and short Yellow Lights in Fremont

This letter was sent to Fremont officials on June 1st.

 Honorable Council Members Fremont
Once again, any study of effectiveness of Red Light Cameras on red light violations in Fremont must also include some acknowledgement of how short yellow lights increase these violations. It should be obvious that the shorter the length of any yellow light the greater the likelihood of a driver running a red light. In addition, IF the yellow light is calculated to be shorter than the average stopping distance required, then it is also obvious that it is not only likely, but a certainty that more drivers will run red lights.

Some of Fremont's intersections have significantly short yellow lights which are unsafe. The 3 with the shortest yellow lights appropriate for safe passage through intersections are: Mowry @ Farwell Decoto @ Paseo Padre Mowry @ Blacow

I have told you before how the yellows, while legal, are too short for the speed of traffic. A recent study by NCHRP supports my claim.
Who is the NCHRP? The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) is a highway research program that deals with planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance in the United States. Spearheaded by the Transportation Research Board (TRB), it is jointly supported federal agencies, state departments of transportation, and other nonprofit organizations.
Here are excerpts of a summary of its Nov. 2012 report (emphasis added). The summary is from the article published in www.thenewspaper.com on Jan. 18, 2013. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4003.asp Links to the actual report can be found in the article.

 "The appendix of the new NCHRP report suggests the same 30 MPH intersection should have a 3.7 second minimum yellow time. For a 40 MPH intersection, California's minimum is 3.9 seconds, the rule-of-thumb is 4.0 seconds while NCHRP suggests it should be no less than 4.5 seconds. NCHRP has not modified the current ITE formula to arrive at these figures. Instead, the researchers concede municipalities do not measure the actual speed of traffic when deciding how much time motorists need to stop safely when approaching an intersection. Instead, local engineers commonly plug the posted speed limit into an equation that needs the "85th percentile" speed to work properly. The 85th percentile is a measure of how fast at least 85 percent of traffic is flowing. The researchers also concede that traffic engineers tend to deliberately post speed limits far below the actual speed of traffic. This results in yellow times that are too short, as the researchers documented by studying actual intersections."

The most egregious example of a short yellow is on Mowry at Farwell. It has a 4.0 second yellow. A 4.5 second yellow is the appropriate minimum for the speed of traffic. In a randomly selected study month (July 2012), 67% of all violations occurred during that first 1/2 second of the red light. I repeat: 67% ! Extending the yellow light will save virtually all of these violations and thus improve safety. That is to say, the "violators" do not continue to "offend" by pushing the yellow. They do not continue "running the red light." There are gone permanently from the landscape. The data from Mission & Mohave which had its yellow light lengthened shows that there has never been a rebound effect. We trust our elected officials, police, and engineers to provide reasonably safe roads. It certainly seems reasonable to follow the recommendations of the NCHRP report. I again ask that the City agendize the matter and seek independent analysis.

Sincerely, Roger Jones