Accidents become more frequent and more severe one year after red light cameras installed according to the New Jersey DOT.
NJ - Traffic accident injuries spiked at the intersections where red light cameras were installed in New Jersey, according to a report released Monday by the state Department of Transportation (NJDOT). Under the state law that authorized photo ticketing program in 2008, NJDOT officials must closely monitor the 25 municipalities and 83 intersections using automated ticketing machines. The department's second annual report found the total number of accidents at these intersections increased a statistically insignificant amount one year after the devices were installed -- from 577 before the devices were installed to 582 collisions with ticketing in place. The number of rear end collisions increased a significant 20 percent.
"National reports of RLR programs have generally shown a slight to moderate rise in same-direction crashes due to sudden stops by motorists knowing of the presence of RLR cameras," the NJDOT report explained.
NJDOT officials attempted to paint the program in the most positive light possible. The report claimed the right-angle crashes were "more severe" than rear end collisions, implying the cameras may have provided a modest safety benefit. The actual data suggest the opposite is true. Before cameras were installed, there were no accidents at the monitored intersections serious enough to merit an "A" rating, which generally means a crash victim was admitted at a hospital for treatment of a disabling injury. Once ticketing commenced, the only "A" accident recorded was a rear end collision -- not an angle collision -- at the intersection of Blackwood‐Clementon Road and Cherrywood Drive in Gloucester Township.
The next level of severity, "B," is applied when victims suffer contusions, large lacerations or other visible injuries. Prior to camera use, there was one rear end and one angle accident meriting a "B" rating. After cameras installed, these figures shot up to 5 angle and 4 rear end "B" accidents. The only category seeing an accident reduction at the photo enforced locations were angle collisions that produced minor, property-damage-only collisions. Despite the mediocre results, NJDOT was not ready to call the program a failure.
"The data are still too limited to draw any definitive conclusions about the pilot program at this time," the report explained. "The department therefore recommends continued data collection and monitoring of RLR program intersections."
Another 37 cities and towns throughout New Jersey have lined up to get in on the red light camera pilot project, but state Senator Michael J. Doherty (R-Washington Township) says it is time to pull the plug.
"If the legislature does not move to immediately terminate the pilot program in light of the new data confirming that cameras make intersections more dangerous, that will be proof positive that the real purpose of red light cameras is to give government another way to reach into your pocket through tickets and fines," Doherty said in a statement.
http://thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2012/nj-rlcreport2.pdf
NMA warns motorists the timing of yellow lights might be shortened, resulting in a moving violation being issued.
The National Motorists Association (NMA) has a warning for the millions of drivers hitting the road for the busy holiday travel season: Beware of the yellow lights.
The timing of yellow lights on traffic signals at many intersections is purposely set to a minimum so more drivers can be ticketed for running red lights, says the 30-year-old activist group based in Waunakee, Wis.
This past summer in New Jersey, the transportation department ordered 21 cities and towns to suspend the use of red-light cameras at 63 intersections because the timing of yellow lights at those locations was below the minimum established by state law.
Other cities-including Dallas; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Union City, Calif.—have been caught shortening yellow lights in the past decade as red-light cameras have become sources of steady revenue. The cameras snap photos of license plates on any vehicles in an intersection while the light is red, and citations, often carrying fines of $100 or more, are mailed to the registration’s address.
“Cities and for-profit camera companies maximize revenue by setting yellow-light times that are too short,” said National Motorists Association President Gary Biller. “It is a violation of the public trust, and it jeopardizes motorist, cyclist, and pedestrian safety.”
Ironically, slightly longer yellow lights can significantly increase safety by allowing more time for intersections to clear, the group says. Biller cited one study that found just one additional second of yellow time can reduce the number of collisions in an intersection by 40 percent.
Longer yellow lights also greatly reduce the number of red-light violations. A recent Texas study concluded, "Lengthening the yellow light interval by as little as 0.5 to 1.5 seconds decreases the incidence of red-light running violations by 50 percent or more,” Biller said in a Nov. 16 letter to the head of the Federal Highway Administration, Victor Mendez.
The NMA wants the FHWA to mandate minimum national standards for yellow-light duration. Currently, the federal agency offers only “guidance” suggesting that yellow lights should last between 3 and 6 seconds. “There’s an ongoing debate in the traffic-engineering community about what the standard should be,” said NMA spokesman John Bowman.
http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2012/11/dreaded-yellow-light-may-be-trap-traffic-violations/59683/
Maryland legislative audit report raises doubts about reliability of speed camera evidence.
Critics of the speed camera program in Maryland received a significant boost this week as an official investigation has documented their long-standing concerns. The General Assembly's Office of Legislative Audits was asked to look at the books at the State Highway Administration (SHA), and problems with the state's highway "work zone" speed cameras immediately stood out.
"SHA did not ensure that contractor performance benchmarks were established for the pilot program, and we noted certain issues regarding the reliability and readability of the photographed violations," acting Legislative Auditor Thomas J. Barnickel III wrote.
StopBigBrotherMD.org has been documenting the program's legal and accuracy issues since the state signed a contract with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS, now a part of Xerox) on June 22, 2010. ACS runs lidar-based mobile speed camera vans on freeways where the speed limit has been lowered in designated work zones, regardless of whether workers are actually present.
The state set up its request for proposals so that ACS, a highly connected firm, would land the lucrative deal. ACS had spent $211,453 to lobbby lawmakers in 2009 and was able to act without much oversight once it landed the lucrative deal.
"The current contract for operating the automated speed monitoring system was executed even though the successful contractor's proposal, which was the only proposal received, did not comply with certain request for proposal requirements," Barnickel wrote. "SHA also lacked adequate assurance that the contractor was meeting a key performance requirement."
SHA did not bother measuring ACS performance against objective measures, even though such oversight was a contract requirement. The auditor noted that 56 percent of the camera photographs that were taken turned out to have unreadable license plates or unreliable speed readings. The auditor was concerned this represented the loss of $3 million in revenue. Even though SHA specified the speed camera system had to be certified as accurate by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the ACS system had not been certified by April 2012. The department did hire a private consultant to establish the reliability of the camera speed readings, but the auditor raised serious doubts about the procedures used.
http://thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2012/md-shaaudit.pdf
NMA engineer says Virginia Beach, VA., has created an illegal right turn ticketing trap.
A traffic engineer with the National Motorists Association is taking on what he calls a dangerous intersection in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Engineer J.J. Bahen Jr. began investigating one particular location in response to an NMA member who raised questions about a citation sent to her in the mail by Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia.
"As you may know, we received a heated complaint from a local resident about a camera citation she received for failing to stop before making a right-turn-on-red from southbound Great Neck Road to westbound Virginia Beach Boulevard," Bahen wrote to Virginia Beach's senior traffic engineer. "After waiting two cycles of the traffic signal behind drivers in the dedicated right-turn lane who appeared to be spooked by the 'Photo Enforced' signs, she crossed the stop bar without stopping 0.76 second after the beginning of the 3-second all-red clearance interval."
Bahen's analysis shows the city has been forcing drivers to wait unnecessarily in traffic by displaying a red light at the location when proper engineering principles suggest a green right-turn arrow would be more appropriate, providing the safest and most efficient flow of traffic.
"Since all conflicting traffic was being held by the all-red, she could not have possibly caused a crash," Bahen wrote. "In fact, the Redflex video showed that, because of the all-red interval and the start-up period, there was no conflicting traffic for six seconds after she had fully cleared the intersection. If there is a compelling traffic safety reason for impeding rush-hour traffic with strict enforcement of benign technical right turn on red violations during the all-red clearance interval, please tell us what it is."
Virginia Beach depends on these right turn violations 82.3 percent of the photo ticket revenue generated citywide. The Great Neck location alone allowed Redflex to mail out 24,400 citations since June 1, 2009, even though the intersection has no documented history of crashes caused by turning right on red. A federal report shows such turns are rarely dangerous (view report). In addition to the turning problem, Bahen said straight-through traffic is also being shortchanged with a yellow time of just 4.3 seconds.
"The recommended methodology of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is that yellow intervals be based on the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing vehicles, not the posted limit," wrote Bahen, an ITE member. "The difference between the two is generally 7 MPH. Virginia law requires that the ITE methodology be used. Therefore, an interval of 4.8 seconds is required. Camera enforcement of short yellow intervals always increases crash rates."
Bahen recommended the General Assembly modify the red light camera authorization statute to increase the minimum grace period before issuing a photo ticket to 3.0 seconds.
http://thenewspaper.com/news/39/3965.asp