Red light cameras increase accidents (con't)
Philadelphia, PA; Fort Collins, CO; Portland, OR; and Washington, D.C. are among the cities that have seen accidents increase as a result of red light cameras, belying proponents' claims that the cameras are all about safety.
Bakersfield, CA, is the latest city to discover the obvious:
After three years of use, red light cameras in Bakersfield, California have increased the number of injuries and accidents at the eight intersections where they are used. Overall, the annual collision rate increased 17 percent. This increase is caused by a shifting of accident types from T-bone, down 28 percent, to rear end, up 47 percent. The shift in accident type, nonetheless did not reduce the number of injuries.
"Overall, injuries have gone up at some intersections," Detective Ryan Paslay admitted to the Bakersfield Californian.
[snip]
Despite the disappointing results, the city is not ready to declare the system a failure. Bakersfield collects $381 for every red light camera ticket that Australian vendor Redflex is able to issue. More than $7,239,000 in revenue has been generated since 2003 from 19,000 citations. Of this amount, Redflex has taken $1,691,000 and the city $1,600,000 with the state and county governments pocketing the remainder.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/19/06 06:04 AM | Print |
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