http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2010/09/25/15478981.html

Crash data kept quiet
City auditor's info-sharing recommendation ignored

By TOM BRODBECK, Winnipeg Sun

Last Updated: September 25, 2010 10:52pm

Since the camera was installed in 2003 crashes at Cavalier Drive and Portage Avenue are up 144%. (MARCEL CRETAIN / WINNIPEG SUN FILES) Winnipeg police and city officials have been quietly requesting crash data from Manitoba Public Insurance for all red-light camera locations in the city but have been keeping the statistics under wraps, the Winnipeg Sun has learned.

Despite claims by police officials that the MPI crash data published in the Winnipeg Sun last week is irrelevant for measuring the effectiveness of red-light cameras, the city has been asking for detailed collision data from MPI since at least 2005, but have refused to make the data public.

The statistics show the average number of crashes for all red-light camera intersections has increased 18% after cameras were installed.

“Over the years, various departments within the City of Winnipeg have verbally requested MPI claims data,” MPI spokesman Brian Smiley wrote in an e-mail to the Winnipeg Sun. “For what purpose? They are likely interested in the locations where crashes are taking place.”

Unfortunately, the city has refused to include the MPI data in the annual photo enforcement reports it submits to the province every year.

Instead, they include only police-reported crash data, which excludes hundreds of collisions a year that are not reported to police.

A 2006 photo enforcement audit by city auditor Shannon Hunt recommended the city include MPI data with the police statistics to get a more accurate picture of whether red-light cameras are reducing collisions and injuries.

“We recommend that the WPS improve performance reporting by working with MPI to provide better information on the impact of the program on collisions and injuries,” said the report.

The city has ignored that recommendation.

The crash data shows the average number of collisions was up at 33 of the 47 intersections MPI has been tracking for the city.

And some of the increases have been dramatic.

For example, there were eight crashes at the corner of Owen Street and Regent Avenue in 2003. Those numbers nearly tripled to an average of 23.5 after a red-light camera was installed there in 2003.

At Gilmore Avenue and Henderson Highway, the average number of collisions more than doubled to 16.5 from eight after a red-light camera was installed there in 2005.

The average number of collisions also jumped 38% at Inkster Boulevard and Main Street after a camera was installed at that corner in 2005.

There were five collisions at the corner of St. Mary’s Road and Warde Avenue the year a red-light camera was installed in 2003. That number nearly tripled to an average 14.8 collisions a year from 2004 to 2009.

Even where there were decreases in crashes after red-light cameras were installed, the reductions were minimal.

For example, there were eight crashes at the corner of Disraeli and Lily Street in 2004, the year that location got a camera. It fell to an average of seven in the subsequent four years.

Overall, the numbers show that in the majority of intersections where red-light cameras have been installed, collisions have increased, which contradicts the stated objective of the program.

And even where there were reductions, they were relatively minor.

I can see why the city and police have kept these numbers under wraps. It shows that the program is not working. Which is not something they want to publicize because they’re addicted to the money the devices generate.

It’s pretty obvious.

I’ll be putting all the raw data on my blog Raise a Little Hell at winnipegsun.com in the coming days.
 

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