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. One example is extending yellow-light times at problem intersections, and the result is overwhelmingly successful. 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. Here are some examples:
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.