Testimony of Barnet Fagel
Illinois Transportation Committee
SB3504 - One Second for Safety

Quote: 

Since the implementation of (GA) HB 77’s yellow light time provision (PLUS 1 SECOND), a total of 57 red light cameras have been removed from operation by local governments because there were no longer considered profitable.

Excerpt: 

1. Effectiveness of Red Light Cameras

Georgia’s experience calls into question the claims of effectiveness heard from the proponents of red light cameras. While cameras are promoted as safety tools, accident statistics do not support that claim. The red light camera vendors and local governments’ common excuse is that an increase in rear-end collisions is to be expected, but there would be a reduction in other, more dangerous types of collisions. However, in January 2006, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that accidents were increasing at several red light camera enforced intersections.  Furthermore there were increases in all types of accidents, including angle collisions, sideswipes, head-on and rear end collisions.   Accidents increased from 21 percent to 54 percent with one intersection having a 128 percent increase in injuries.
 

In May, 2010 accident data was analyzed at 17 photo enforced intersections in the Atlanta area. Accident data was compared for a period of 6 months prior to camera installation and 6 months after camera installation. The results of this study showed that collisions of all types, including rear end and angle collisions, had increased at nearly half of these camera equipped intersections. The more dangerous angle collisions increased at 47 percent of the intersections analyzed.
 

Those findings have been duplicated in the peer-reviewed studies by the University of South Florida, published in 2008 by Florida Public Health Review   and by the Urban Transit Institute of the North Carolina A&T University . Although not peer-reviewed, the Virginia Department of Transportation published a landmark study in 2007 examining six full years’ worth of data covering every photo enforced city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The data showed that, overall, accidents increased 29 percent. The accidents were serious, not minor, as injuries also increased 18 percent.
 

SLIDE In Chicago an independent report published by the University of Chicago Professor Rajiv C. Shah demonstrated camera-equipped intersections experienced a 5.31 percent increase in crashes as opposed to the Chicago Police Department’s claim of a 24 percent collision reduction at red light camera intersections. “This suggests a very small benefit for the RLCs and a much smaller figure than the city claims.” 
 

2. Abuse of Red Light Cameras by Local Governments

A common public concern about red light camera use is that, adoption of the technology is accompanied by a reduction in the length of yellow light times at the red light camera enforced intersections. Testimony during committee hearings for House Bill 77 revealed that some local governments had been lowering the duration of the yellow light signal at camera equipped intersections. Local news media investigations followed up the claims and confirmed that yellow light times were reduced at certain intersections following the installation of the red light cameras.
 

Such reports raised significant concerns regarding the true purpose of the cameras. Annual reports on red light camera operations provided to the Georgia legislature by local governments revealed that there was an increase in red light running violations at the intersections with reduced yellow light times. The increase in violations also created an increase in revenue for the local government.
 

Local news media also began investigating reports of vehicle owners who received red light camera tickets, but were not the driver of the vehicle or where the camera misread the tag. The news stories revealed that vehicle owners were being harassed and told to pay the fine or report who was the driver of the vehicle at the time the violation occurred. As the red light camera controversy grew, public acceptance of cameras declined.
 

SLIDE In Chicago YouTube videos have consistently document many of Chicago’s camera-equipped traffic signals do not meet the federal minimum standards to provide 3 seconds of steady yellow time.
 

Added Excerpt: 

GEORGIA’S NEW RED LIGHT CAMERA LAW IS WORKING

SLIDE In January 2010, the provision for adding an additional second of yellow light time at photo enforced intersections went into effect and the results were immediate. Within 90 days of the law going into effect, red light running violations dropped 72 percent at red light camera intersections. Some local governments reported that violations dropped as much as 81 percent.
With such a significant drop in violations, also came an equal drop in revenue. Many local governments began removing the red light cameras, as they were no longer profitable to operate. The City of Dalton, not only removed their red light cameras, but had the yellow light times extended at all of the larger intersections within the city.
 

Mayor David Pennington of Dalton, Georgia told WDEF Television in an interview about the city removing the red light cameras “…the only reason to me to have the traffic cameras is to truly promote public safety at a reasonable cost… and we’ve seen there is no evidence that they reduce accidents at all.”
 

As a result of the additional yellow light time requirement, a total of twelve Georgia cities have removed their red light cameras. This table shows the percentage drop in violations following the implementation of HB 77.
 

Since the implementation of HB 77’s yellow light time provision, a total of 57 red light cameras have been removed from operation by local governments because there were no longer considered profitable.

Attachments:

File	Description
Barnet Fagel Transportation Committee Presentation SLIDE[1].pdf
Barnet Fagel TESTIMONY SB3504-2[1].pdf

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