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Predictable results, more carnage: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/25/as-cities-turn-off-red-light-cameras-red-light-runners-claim-more-lives/ https://usa.s

Predictable results, more carnage: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/25/as-cities-turn-off-red-light-cameras-red-light-runners-claim-more-lives/ https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/25/as-cities-turn-off-re...

better-solution 7y ago
Here's an idea: Only use the cameras to compound fault to unthinkable scales in the event of an accident. Triple fines and threaten felony jail time for accidents that can be shown to involve running red lights. I think, had the premise of traffic cameras been introduced under the pretext of evidence application in cases of true harm and fault, they might have been embraced. Instead, they've been opportunisticlly exploited to rip people off, and steal money, leading to a proliferation of more cameras stealing more money. And the money pretty much goes where local government payola dictates. Had traffic cameras only been applied to accidents after the fact, especially when fatalities were involved, they might have been praised for revealing truth. The lesson: only punish those that inflict harm, and only after the harm is inflicted. If the harm is too frequent, reconfigure the timing of the lights, or redesign the intersection, so that humans aren't tempted to cause dangerous or conflicting situations.
Rebelgecko 7y ago
>A 2016 IIHS study found that the fatal red-light running crash rate in cities that shut off their cameras increased 30 percent relative to similar cities that had not. In cities that had eliminated camera enforcement, the overall fatal crash rate at signalized intersections was 16 percent higher than in cities where the programs were maintained. These back-to-back sentences from the article sound like they're describing the same situation but with 2 very different numbers— am I misparsing something?
warmwaffles 7y ago
Most of Texas does not have red-light cameras. There are few areas that have them and even then by Texas law in its existence an officer must be present at the time of the citation being issued. It can't be mailed.

better-solution 7y ago

Here's an idea: Only use the cameras to compound fault to unthinkable scales in the event of an accident. Triple fines and threaten felony jail time for accidents that can be shown to involve running red lights. I think, had the premise of traffic cameras been introduced under the pretext of evidence application in cases of true harm and fault, they might have been embraced. Instead, they've been opportunisticlly exploited to rip people off, and steal money, leading to a proliferation of more cameras stealing more money. And the money pretty much goes where local government payola dictates. Had traffic cameras only been applied to accidents after the fact, especially when fatalities were involved, they might have been praised for revealing truth. The lesson: only punish those that inflict harm, and only after the harm is inflicted. If the harm is too frequent, reconfigure the timing of the lights, or redesign the intersection, so that humans aren't tempted to cause dangerous or conflicting situations.

Rebelgecko 7y ago

>A 2016 IIHS study found that the fatal red-light running crash rate in cities that shut off their cameras increased 30 percent relative to similar cities that had not. In cities that had eliminated camera enforcement, the overall fatal crash rate at signalized intersections was 16 percent higher than in cities where the programs were maintained. These back-to-back sentences from the article sound like they're describing the same situation but with 2 very different numbers— am I misparsing something?

warmwaffles 7y ago

Most of Texas does not have red-light cameras. There are few areas that have them and even then by Texas law in its existence an officer must be present at the time of the citation being issued. It can't be mailed.