TheAgitator.com
Red Light Scams
Monday, March 1st, 2004Cato colleague Jonathan Block has a letter to the editor in today’s Washington Post:
The Feb. 14 editorial “Focus on Red-Runners” mentioned a Fairfax City study that apparently showed a 44 percent drop in one year in red-light running at five intersections with cameras. But it did not mention the results of a 2001 analysis by the National Motorists Association of a Fairfax County intersection. That organization found that red-light violations dropped 96 percent at the intersection when yellow light time was increased from 4 seconds to 5.5 seconds.A 1998 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also found that 80 percent of red-light entries occur within the first second of the light turning red, indicating that inadequate yellow time is the major cause of red-light entries.
Increasing yellow-light times would reduce red-light violations and increase safety. Localities have not done so because it would negatively affect a major source of revenue for local governments.
Incidentally, I presented this information recently during a hearing for a red-light ticket I received in the District after entering an intersection 0.6 seconds after the light turned red. The infraction was upheld.
NMA is good people. Your humble Agitator predicted over two years ago that the installation of red light cameras would taint city officials with the promise of revenue. Not only would they no longer consider lengthening yellows — which would promote the safety of motorists, but cut into red-light-runner revenue — I predicted some cities might actually shorten yellows, putting motorists at increased risk just so the city can make a little more money.
Sure enough, last summer the city of Bethesda was caught shortening the yellow light at an intersection that brought in $1 million+ annually in fines.
Nevermind the shenanigans that started here in San Diego when the contractor that installed the redlight scameras was getting a cut off of from the fine for each ticket that the scameras issued. Conflict of interest? Nah…
A judge did dismiss all of the tickets and they did pass a law against it. Eventually.
And it was never about safety as they never issued points, just fines.
The mail-order traffic enforcement approach (whether red-light cameras or photo radar) makes me ashamed of my traffic engineering profession. Granted, much of this is driven by municipal political masters and their desire for a highly visible, quick-fix solution rather than less sexy and potentially more costly ways to actually deal with the problem.
For example:
1) In my town, most of the red-light cams are mounted at intersections where volume exceeds capacity during the peak. This means that more vehicles are entering the intersection at the end of the green cycle and the probability of snagging a “bad guy” is increased. Rather than increase capacity by widening the approach or signal timing adjustment, they go for the revenue.
2) The yellow intervals are rarely calibrated for the approach speed. This is because the speed limits are often set unrealistically low (thanks again politicians!). The result is a set of conflicting messages that breed disrespect for even valid information that needs to be conveyed to the motorist.
3)There are other relatively low-cost techniques, like improving signal coordination and provide “dilemma-zone” protection loops in the pavement to minimize high speed go-no-go situations
None of the above require the violation of anyone’s civil rights. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people defend these monstrousities on the grounds that they “pay for themselves” through fine revenue. Well, shit only if that means drivers continue to blow through red lights, which is what your wonderful safety strategy is supposed to reduce!
Here in Tucson, we have left-turn signals that follow the straight-ahead green rather than precede it. I’d never seen that before I moved here. When turning left, you get used to drifting out into the intersection while the light is green in anticipation of the coming arrow.
The thing is, sometimes the arrow doesn’t come. If you are in the intersection already, you have no choice but to run the red light. One intersection in particular is especially bad…I drive through it almost daily, and I can’t discern any pattern at all.
Did I mention it happens to be one block from the police station?
In Chicago (and I bet in lots of other cities) there are very few intersections that have left-turn arrows. Instead, people that want to turn left do the same as Brian Hawkins and creep out into the intersection. When the light turns yellow, oncoming traffic actually slows down and stops and the cars turning left do their thing. The effect is that each time you turn left, you are running a red light.
Cops won’t ticket you for this because that’s the way traffic is designed to flow; it’s really quite clever. The overall effect is (1) predictability, in that you know how the traffic lights change and don’t get caught in an intersection waiting for an arrow; (2) less “real” running of red lights, because drivers going straight through lights know to stop at a yellow rather than speed up to get through (a tradition in my hometown of St. Louis); and (3) more caution when starting to move when the light turns green, becuase you need to wait for the people turning left from the perpendicular lanes.
I have found that Chicago is one of the craziest places to drive, but it is also one of the safest if you know and obey the rules.
There is a little town just outside San Antonio that has a population of 190 and is about 3mi. from the interstate that supports a 10man full time police force by writing into the millions of dollars in traffic fines. They claim that their interest is in safety as they patrol a 7 mile stretch of interstate. Thieves know what they do and greed is the reason for it.
The light scam is new to me. No wonder all of the crooks aren’t in jail. Theyre’out writing tickets.
I read this entire story about “red light” violations thinking you were talking about prostitutes getting into cars at intersections! :-)
Red Lights, Camera, Action!
Did you think that installing cameras at intersections to catch red-light runners was making the roads safer? The Agitator tells us the real reason for the cameras. You know your government is sick when they prefer writing more tickets to
Red Light
The Agitator has pointed out an interesting letter-to-the-editor in Today’s Washington Post: The Feb. 14 editorial “Focus on Red-Runners” mentioned a Fairfax City study that apparently showed a 44 percent drop in one year in red-light running at five i…
Unfortunately for die-hard individualists, getting into a vehicle and travelling on a public road means you are part of a system and no longer a rational individual. Traffic at volume behaves like a liquid in a pipe, and to ensure maximum EFFECIENCY the flow needs to be controlled.
The best systems that do this are dynamic, so of course you will not get the same delay period for each red.
Argument for having rules/morals in society:
“I have found that Chicago is one of the craziest places to drive, but it is also one of the safest if you know and obey the rules.” Thanks Eric.
IIRC, it was San Diego which had a significant increase in collisions at intersections where drivers slammed on their brakes for yellow lights and got rear-ended.
Milwaukee, not that all far from Chicago, has a very different set of traffic rules. There is far more running of red lights (every time I thought I should have stopped someone has come thru behind me) but drivers are vastly better about moving over for emergency vehicles, and then smoothly resuming the flow.
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