(Thanks to www.stpetecameras.org for the link).

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17755195?nclick_check=1

Report recommends nixing red-light cameras
By C.J. Lin, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/01/2011 07:26:33 PM PDT
Updated: 04/01/2011 07:28:29 PM PDT

With the contract for the city's much-criticized red-light cameras coming up for renewal this month, a stinging report that recommends scrapping them could hurt LAPD efforts to continue the program.

The report's main conclusion is that if the costly system were shut down, all traffic engineers would have to do to improve traffic safety is extend the length of yellow signal lights at intersections.

"There is a very good chance someone is going to be forced to run the red light because the yellow timing is too short," said Jay Beeber, a Sherman Oaks resident who wrote the report, "Safer Streets in Los Angeles."

Based on research by state and federal transportation authorities, Beeber's study concludes proper engineering can reduce violations and collisions by at least 50 percent.

"It's the difference between the way it's timed and the actual speed of traffic," said Beeber, who founded Safer Streets L.A., a motorist safety advocacy group. "You have an area where it's almost ensured that you'll do the wrong thing."

After a city audit questioned the red light cameras' effectiveness, the Police Commission and the Los Angeles Police Department upheld the program in December, reporting that it had led to a 63 percent decline in red-light related accidents.

But Police Commissioner Richard Drooyan said Tuesday that Beeber's report needs to be taken very seriously.

"(Beeber) makes a lot of points in there that I think

are worthy of a response from the department," Drooyan said. "It is a serious report."
The comment could signal the commission's change of stance on the issue.

Also, Beeber argued the decline in accidents had more to do with yellow signals being lengthened at a number of the intersections being studied than the camera program, which has operated at a $2.5 million loss over the past two years.

The timing of the yellow lights is usually dictated by the posted speed limit on the street. But drivers are usually traveling at least 10 to 15 miles above the limit at problem intersections, Beeber said.

Yellow lights that were extended by one second more than the minimum time decreased red-light violations by 53 percent and crashes by 40 percent, according to a 2004 Texas Department of Transportation study. A 2002 study in San Diego found a 30 to 55 percent reduction in violations when yellow lights were lengthened.

The report also calls for the implementation of a two to three second "all red" phase, where lights in all directions stay red to allow cars to clear the intersection.

Calling the current program "counterproductive to the goal of safer streets," Beeber said the LAPD should stop it and instead study appropriate engineering countermeasures.

City officials questioned the program's effectiveness after a September audit found that the 32 cameras were divided among the 15 council districts instead of being placed at the most dangerous intersections.

And both police and city officials have criticized the fines, calling the nearly $500 tickets excessive while citing a lack of consequence for those who don't pay them.

The camera program is supposed to fund itself, and even generate revenue for the city, by fining motorists for violations spotted on cameras.

But about 56,000 citations remain unresolved since the program went into effect in April 2006, totaling about $7 million to $11 million in money uncollected by the court system, according to police officials.

The five-year contract for the cameras expires at the end of the month. LAPD is reviewing proposals from vendors for possible expansion of the program and has said it will distribute cameras between the four police bureaus, but could run into resistance from the city council.

For more information, visit www.saferstreetsla.org.

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