Ohio's Red Light District
Governor Taft is out of office[1]. One of the last things that Bob Taft did before he left office was to veto a bill that would have eliminated all Red Light Cameras in Ohio. Since the Ohio House and Senate were not in session, his veto could not be over-ridden.
Many cities have red light cameras. These take pictures of cars as they run a red light, judging by the license plate number, a ticket is mailed to the party who name is on the registration. The city of Cincinnati proposed putting up these cameras in the summer of 2005. Anne Arundel County, Maryland (population 510,878) put them up 5 years ago and has made almost $3 million a years, with only 5 cameras in place. Cities claim it is to help prevent accidents. Motorists will be more likely to stop for a red light if they know they will be caught. But just how many lives are saved by this?
I could not find a study to back up this claim.
I did find one study about this. In 2003, Virginia’s Department of Transportation put up red light cameras at several intersections. The next year, they studied the trends in accidents, and they actually found that there was an INCREASE in the number of accidents. It appears that when people see a yellow light at one of these intersections, they are more likely to slam on their breaks, to avoid getting a ticket mailed to their home. More people slamming on their brakes seems to be leading to more rear end accidents.
As if we didn't have enough traffic on the highways, traffic may be getting a bit worse during rush hour if some local cities decide to put up the cameras to raise and spend more money.
[1] Let’s Celebrate!
posted by CincinnatiLibertarian at 2:22 PM
5 Comments:
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you are supposed to hit your brakes when you see a yellow light.
It means clear the intersection.
It means do not enter.
It means get out if you are 2/3 of the way through waiting to make a left turn.
If the fines offend you - make the penalty a mandatory jail sentence.
I wish everybody drove the way described. There would be a lot fewer accidents, fewer people getting hurt, and less damage to peoples cars. However, it does not get rid of the problem that I mentioned, that red light cameras are linked to MORE accidents at intersections.
If the penalty for running a red light was a mandatory jail sentence, it still doesn't solve the link between red light cameras and accidents.
The biggest reason they exist seems to be so that cities can make money, it has nothing to do with public safety. Even with evidence supporting that the roads become more dangerous, cities are still installing them.
Ohio had a chance to get rid of them, but our former Governor chose to veto the ban.
Drivers are suposed to leave a safe clear stopping distance in front of them.
Two cars colliding is probably a lot less serious than a car and a human colliding.
Police chases are linked to accidents, too.
This article is not about pedestrian accidents. I did not find any information about that, although the Virgina DOT study that was cited probably did look at pedestrian accidents.
Again, it would be great if everybody drove the way you described, however, red light cameras have not made people drive more safely. In fact, it appears that it makes their driving just a bit more dangerous.
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