Viable Alternatives
Revenue-Neutral Enforcement
It wouldn't be right to criticize an enforcement measure without presenting a better alternative. Supporters of photo enforcement schemes like to promote the enforcement capability of cameras without significantly increasing police staff and overhead. But the problem really appears to be, how do we achieve increased enforcement without increasing costs?
The answer is fairly obvious. Since speeding fines generate revenue, shouldn't it be possible to raise fines to an extent such that increased human enforcement costs are offset by the fines they generate? There really appears to be no reason why we can't put more police on the road and adjust fines to a level such as to achieve a break-even revenue scenario. More human police presence and enforcement on the road will make the streets safer and allow broader enforcement of ALL laws! Win-Win!
Engineering
Engineering is an extremely viable solution that can cost very little and yield big results. Why would our officials rather put up cameras and fine us when they can simply adjust the light timing? Other examples of engineering leading to safety is improved signage, increasing visibility, adding timers, changing lane striping, adding turn lanes, and more:
Improved Signal Visibility: 40% of drivers say they did not see the signal or thought it was green. Countermeasures to improve signal visibility include redundancy, increasing the size of signal display (allows earlier sighting of signal), replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs, placing signals as close to the driver’s line of sight as possible, providing visors for lights that receive direct sun, and providing backplates for improved contrast.
Optimal Placement and Number of Signal Heads: Overhead mounted signals are more effective than pole-mounted signals. Pole-mounted signal heads pose three main challenges: lack of conspicuity; mounting locations may not provide a display with clear meaning and; and line-ofsight blockage. However, a combination of pole mounted and overhead mounted signals can provide extra conspicuity.
Increasing the Likelihood of Stopping: Intersections should be carefully engineered so that they provide sufficient information to the motorist regarding the traffic signal. With the information provided at the right time and place, the probability that a driver will stop for a red signal may increase. The likelihood of stopping at a red light may be increased at any given intersection through: signal ahead signs; advanced warning flashers; rumble strips; left-turn signal sign; and pavement condition (the age of a road as well as the pavement material influence how easily a car will skid in inclement weather).
Signal optimization: Poor signal timings are inefficient and may cause a driver to respond recklessly. The traffic demands at each intersection must be carefully analyzed when the phase sequence and timings are developed.
Signal cycle length: Proper timing of signal-cycle lengths reduce driver frustration and the temptation to run a red light. Signal timing includes the green, yellow and red phase for each approach as well as the overall signal-cycle length. Generally, the longer the overall signal-cycle length the fewer opportunities exist for red light running.
Yellow change interval: A properly timed yellow interval is essential to reduce signal violations. If the yellow interval is not long enough for the conditions at the intersection (i.e. approach speed, traffic volume, etc.), motorists will violate the signal, intentionally and unintentionally. A number of studies have confirmed that red light running violations decrease significantly with an increased yellow interval.
All-red clearance interval: Use of an all-red phase or clearance interval at a signalized intersection can improve the safety of an intersection significantly. However, the use of an all-red phase does not reduce red light running.
Here are some additional examples in the news:
Sluggish Economy Yields Record Traffic Safety Benefit
Dec 12, 2011 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpt:
Fewer people died on America's roads than at any time in the past sixty-one years, according to an analysis of 2010 accident data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Some in the transportation industry have cited their own public policies or products as the primary reason for the statistical improvement announced Thursday, but the evidence suggests other factors such as advances in technology and the lingering effects of the past recession are at play.
"It's the result of three important factors," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in his FastLane blog. "Cars are safer as crash avoidance and crash worthiness technologies continue to improve. Roads are safer with safer intersections, better signs and lighting, improved pavement technologies, and more effective crash barriers. Drivers are safer, buckling their seatbelts at record rates and choosing not to get behind the wheel after drinking."
Missouri: Violations Still Down with Longer Yellows
Sep 26, 2011 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpt:
Photo enforcement advocates downplay the benefit of increased yellow time in addressing the problem of red light running. New evidence from Arnold, Missouri shows that red light cameras continue to flash at a much lower rate since the state mandated longer signal timing at a number of photo-enforced intersections.
Red Light, Yellow Light: Red-light citations plummet in Arnold
Sep 14, 2011 Wtaskiwin Times - ArticleExcerpt:
City council received a report as information for the implementation of a number of changes to speed zones within city limits.
The recommendations were included in the Opus traffic study, which was presented to city council at its Aug. 22 regular meeting.
Red Light, Yellow Light: Red-light citations plummet in Arnold
Jun 30, 2011 Riverfront Times - ArticleExcerpt:
Beginning in February, MoDOT began changing the yellow-light signal times throughout Arnold. In general, the change to the signals has lengthened the amount of time the light stays yellow.
In so doing, MoDOT has triggered an unintended consequence — the number of red-light runners caught by photo enforcement in Arnold has plummeted.
In January, the city issued 691 red-light camera citations. By March, the number of citations had plunged to 263. And last month, the vendor that operates Arnold's red-light cameras — American Traffic Solutions — confirms that it issued just 198 citations. That's a drop of 72 percent from January.
Charlottetown forcing slower traffic
Aug. 9, 2011 CBC News Canada - ArticleExcerpt:
The City of Charlottetown has begun experimenting with traffic calming measures to force vehicles to move more slowly along residential streets.
The city's war on speeders dates back to 2006. It started with a debate on photo radar, but when the province wouldn't move on legislation to allow tickets with photo radar evidence it simply upped the budget for traffic policing.
Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops
Jun. 19, 2011 Wired - ArticleExcerpt:
So city engineers decided to take another approach. In five Garden Grove school zones, they put up what are known as dynamic speed displays, or driver feedback signs: a speed limit posting coupled with a radar sensor attached to a huge digital readout announcing "Your Speed."
The results fascinated and delighted the city officials. In the vicinity of the schools where the dynamic displays were installed, drivers slowed an average of 14 percent. Not only that, at three schools the average speed dipped below the posted speed limit. Since this experiment, Garden Grove has installed 10 more driver feedback signs. "Frankly, it’s hard to get people to slow down," says Dan Candelaria, Garden Grove’s traffic engineer. "But these encourage people to do the right thing."
Pioneering traffic light scheme set to replace speed cameras
May. 19, 2011 Swindon Advertiser - ArticleExcerpt:
Two roads in Swindon have been chosen for a pilot study, the first in the entire country, where traffic lights will turn to red if they detect a speeding motorist approaching in a bid to stop them in their tracks.
Missouri: State Moves for Longer Yellow, Reduced Violations
May. 11, 2011 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpt:
The impact of the longer yellow at red light camera monitored locations was felt immediately. In January, before any signal timing had been changed, American Traffic Solutions recorded 875 alleged violations in the city of Arnold. At the end of April, that figure fell 70 percent to just 266. Jefferson County Councilman Bob Boyer obtained the ATS statistics after learning that MoDOT had extended the yellow times.
Trees - the 'imaginative alternative' to speed cameras
Mar. 10, 2011 Daily Mail - ArticleExcerpt:
Trees could soon be used instead of speed cameras after a Government study found they were just as effective in slowing down traffic.
Creating an avenue of trees and hedges had a dramatic impact on motorists’ behaviour, a trial in Norfolk has found.
New Jersey: Longer Yellow Eliminates Red Light Running
Mar. 3, 2011 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpt:
Red light running all but disappeared at a New Jersey intersection after the duration of the yellow light warning time was increased under threat of a lawsuit. Glassboro gave the private company American Traffic Solutions (ATS) permission to issue red light camera tickets at the intersection of William Dalton Drive and Delsea Drive on March 26. The location was so successful at issuing $85 tickets that it generated $1 million worth of notices within just seven months.
Red-light cameras, good riddance
Mar. 16, 2009 Atlanda Jounral-Constitution - ArticleFive Gwinnett cities Duluth, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville and Suwanee - have either thrown in the towel on red-light cameras at high-traffic intersections or plan to drastically curtail their use.
For this, credit should go to State Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cartersville), who introduced legislation last year that put reasonable restrictions on their use. His legislation, passed into law, took the regulation of red-light cameras from the cities that were using them as ATMs and put them under the Georgia Department of Transportation.
It also required the cities that employed them to "provide demonstrable evidence that there is a genuine safety need." Safety and not the revenue to be generated had to be the deciding factor. "The only consideration shall be the increased lifesaving value," the bill stipulated.
Importantly, too, local governments couldnt tinker with the signal timing to gin up dollars. "The minimal yellow light change interval shall be established in accordance with nationally recognized engineering standards" plus one second, the law provided.
Do Denver red-light cameras deter violations?
Jan. 4, 2009 RockyMountainNews.com - ArticleExcerpt:
The raw data that is available lends credence to standard traffic engineering practice outside Denver that increasing yellow-light timing reduces red-light running.
Virginia: How Shortened Yellow Yielded Greater Profit
Jan. 8, 2009 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpt:
VDOT decided to increase the yellow timing from 4.0 back to 5.5 seconds. The impact was immediate and dramatic. Average monthly violations dropped from 250 to between 20 and 30 per month -- a 90 percent decrease.
The Yellow Menace: The police could make intersections safer with longer yellow lights. But the city wouldn't make any money that way.
Apr. 2, 2002 Weekly Standard - ArticleExcerpt:
Extending yellow times has proven successful, even if cities don't publicize it. In San Diego, where even the police chief was caught admitting that at many red-light-camera intersections, accidents have increased, the nation's bloodiest skirmish over red-light cameras has played itself out in court, revealing all sorts of city/contractor chicanery. There, lawyers representing motorists found the city planting a red-light camera at an intersection where no accidents had occurred for years. But that didn't stop the camera from generating 2,000 citations per month, until engineers realized the yellow light was more than a second too short. When they increased it, the number of citations dropped to fewer than 300 per month.
Congressman signals need for light change
Jun. 1, 2001 Arizona Tribune - ArticleExcerpt:
A U.S. congressman's staff report states the best way to reduce redlight running is to boost the duration of yellow signal lights, an idea that is working at six Mesa intersections.