Presentations Red Light Cameras; Former City Manager R.J. Intindola on RLC SCAM!
Red Light Cameras
2011
Former City Manager R.J. Intindola on red light cameras...see below.
And in case you missed it, see the article “Bad Safety”: http://savehallandale.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/bad-safety/
As City Manager of Hallandale Beach Florida, I rejected the concept of the installation of red light cameras for several reasons. Although there were limited studies at the time of my retirement in November of 2002, considerable research and documentation indicating the danger and ineffectiveness of the cameras has surfaced over the past several years.
Similar to other local government officials, the Mayor of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Joy Cooper, credits the installation of red light cameras as a method for saving lives. She also states that the strain on law enforcement necessitates the installation of red light cameras. In a recent Miami Herald guest editorial, she wrote: "Not being able to pay as many police officers is a challenge, but instead of putting cities and towns at risk with less officers on the streets, red-light traffic cameras can still effectively enforce the law, and allow officers to do their job — protect citizens."
However, in the case in Hallandale beach Florida, her statement is not factual. A review of the 2009 budget indicates there are an equal number of police personnel today as there were when I retired in November of 2002.
Having worked with Joy Cooper for several years, I know she shoots from the hip using a shotgun approach, and then tries to justify her false statements. Typically, her justifications are generic and without supporting documentation. In the same article noted above, she wrote "According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in the United States, 200,000 people are injured and 900 people are killed each year in motor vehicle collisions resulting from a motor vehicle driver violating a red light-traffic signal…The violation of red light traffic signals is the number one cause of urban motor vehicle collisions. The installation and use of red light cameras have proven to reduce intersection collisions by 40 percent." Joy Coopers cries http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/apr/04/joy-cooper-florida-lives-depend-on-red-light/ for the community to support red light cameras
Joy Cooper has a fondness for the dramatic, and for the misuse of facts. So I undertook my own investigation to validate her statements and determine the truth regarding the use of red light cameras.
For example, I located many of the same Insurance Institute for Highway Safety statistics used by Mayor Cooper. But I could not locate any other website or study that illustrated the positive aspects of red light cameras. Instead, a considerable amount of research concludes that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is providing self-serving statistics, provided exclusively by consultants they hired.
One major study conducted by the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health concluded red light cameras were ineffective and not living up to their intended purpose. Lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of Health Policy and Management noted: “The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work." You can read and learn more at the University of South Florida website for the Department of Health Policy and Management.
The study also notes a 2001 report by the majority leader for the United States House of Representatives. That study reported that red-light cameras are "a hidden tax levied on motorists." As of this date, six U.S. cities have been found guilty of shortening the yellow light cycle below uniform standard traffic engineering principles, and even in some cases State law. These cities include Lubbock Texas; Nashville and Chattanooga Tennessee; Union City California; Dallas Texas; and Springfield Missouri.
In Union City California, officials were found to trap motorists with a yellow signal time 1.3 seconds below the minimum established by State law. The city was ordered to refund more than $1 million in fines previously issued to motorists.
In California, the State auditor concluded that 77% of all citations were issued when the light was red for less than one second. Due to the reduced yellow signal time, these motorists were faced with either running the red light or slamming on the brakes. Those that chose to brake often stopped past the double line, therefore were technically in violation. In many cases the vehicles ended in the middle of the intersection or in the pathway of crossing traffic.
In Lubbock Texas, the statistics regarding an increase in traffic accidents at red light camera intersections is horrifying. Rear end collisions nearly doubled at 12 intersections where red light cameras were installed. The total number of accidents increased by 50%. One local television station, KCBD in Lubbock, documented short yellow cycle times below the minimum required by law, most likely causing the increased accident rate.
In Nashville Tennessee, many question the motive for initially installing the red light cameras. Justin Owen, president for the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, wrote "…on the whole, they create a lot of problems." Owen continued that there are other methods to reduce the accident rate at intersections including increasing the yellow light cycle "…by one or one and one half seconds." The increased yellow cycle provides additional time for the driver to make a more informed decision. This comment is supported on numerous occasions in my review of the literature where traffic experts have stated that reconfiguration of the intersection and enhanced yellow cycle times decrease accident rates more than the installation of red light cameras.
A 2008 University of South Florida report found "Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them.... public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety." Study Summary http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/22/2267.asp
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