Smart Cameras Blog

[From Daily Herald | Studies show cameras reduce crashes, but local data scant]

I am in the process of summarizing the articles ran in the Daily Herald on Red Light cameras, but I wanted to pull this one out (mainly because I was quoted). Here is the link to the complete set of articles from the Daily Herald:

Here is my quote:

“If you look at the data on how these cameras are actually being used, I believe it is largely about revenue and not about safety,” said Rajiv Shah, a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies surveillance and red-light cameras. “We all recognize that one of the big reasons it spreads so quickly is that it makes a lot of money while having a veneer of safety.”

Here is some of the reasoning the article cites for this:

The Daily Herald revealed this week how the majority of red-light camera tickets issued in most suburbs are for right-turn violations, a practice that can target drivers crawling through a turn who think they are driving safely.

At the same time, many cameras are going up at intersections where there are few crashes related to running red lights. In all, state data shows 20 out of 106 intersections for which information was available have fewer than four crashes a year related to running a red light.

rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras