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ROADS SAFETY * USA - Why insurance companies love red light cameras ?
A recent study out of South Florida claims that the increasingly popular red-light cameras actually can increase crashes
FL,USA -Land Line Magazine -April 11, 2008: -- ... Besides generating revenue for municipalities and the companies that make the systems, the potential for increased crashes – and thus higher insurance rates – lead insurance companies to support their installation... Forget about terrorists posing as convenience store clerks – this is a real paranoid, and terribly logical way of looking at the spread of these cameras... The study, called “Red Light Running Cameras: Would Crashes, Injuries and Automobile Insurance Rates Increase if They are Used in Florida?” can be found here... And here some:
* Conclusions and Recommendations
The theory behind red light cameras as potentially effective is that they rely on deterring red light running primarily through punishment of a specific driving behavior and secondarily by changing drivers’ experience. By definition, the punishable behavior and resulting potentially harmful action will already have taken place when a ticket is issued. In other words, the crash, injury, and mortality risks do not change immediately, if at all.
In contrast, the engineering solutions described below produce immediate reductions in red light running and potential crashes. Thus, even if red light cameras could be effective in the long run, which is debatable, they are associated with an added cost, consisting of fines, crashes and injuries that could have been avoided by using engineering solutions, which are effective in both the short term and the long run.
The following engineering countermeasures are recommended to reduce red light running (FHWA/NHTSA, 2003):
• Improve signal head visibility by increasing size or adding signal heads where one signal head is used for multiple lanes and may be blocked from view.
• Address east-west roads where sun angles silhouette the traffic sign head and add back
plates to enhance visibility.
• Set appropriate yellow light time intervals that allow vehicles to clear the intersection or safely stop that is consistent with the speed limit, road grade and intersection width.
• Add a brief all-red light clearance interval to allow traffic in the intersection to clear prior toreleasing cross traffic.
• Add intersection warning signs or advanced yellow flashing lights or reduce the approach speed to the intersection.
• Coordinate traffic signals to optimize traffic flow, eliminating interruptions.
• Remove on-site parking near intersections to increase visibility of pedestrians and crosstraffic.
• Repair malfunctioning lights and avoid unnecessarily long cycle timings.
If a problem persists after intersection re-engineering, the FHWA and NHTSA (2003) advise the next steps are an education campaign and traditional police enforcement.
Labels: road safety debate
posted by Unknown @ 5:06 AM
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