ATS’ Newsletter, Issue 30
News-Leader photo
Most Drivers Favor Red-Light Safety Cameras, National Poll Shows
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, June 30, 2011
Two-thirds of drivers in 14 big cities with longstanding red light camera programs support their use, a new survey from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates. The findings follow an Institute study demonstrating that cameras have reduced the rate of fatal red light running crashes by 24 percent in these same cities.
Eatontown Approves Red-Light Safety Camera Use
Atlanticville (New Jersey), June 30, 2011
The Borough Council formally adopted an ordinance to bring red-light safety cameras to the community. The decision allows the project to be put out for bid.
City of Melbourne OKs Camera Ordinance
FloridaToday.com, June 29, 2011
Red-light cameras will guard a handful of Melbourne intersections, but not for at least a year while city leaders wait out lawsuits and potential state law changes stemming from the controversial devices.
KDVR TV Channel 31 photo
Traffic Ticket Revenues Exceed Expectations in Colorado Springs
The Denver Post (Colorado), June 28, 2011
Revenues for Colorado Springs are higher than expected this year, thanks in part to red light cameras and photo radar.
Fatalities Fall, Ticket Revenues Rise in Calgary
Calgary Herald (Canada), June 28, 2011
Police officers and traffic cameras brought in another record amount in 2010, almost reaching the $40-million mark for the first time.
Pensacola News Journal photo
The city of Milton, Fla., (pictured) will soon follow Doral in ending its red-light safety camera warning phase. Doral police will begin issuing fines based on camera evidence on June 30. See the article in The Miami Herald.
Cameras on Way to Crash-Prone Intersection
The Express-Times (New Jersey), June 24, 2011
A video from a patrolman’s dashboard camera at a routine traffic stop was all Pohatcong Township Council needed to decide if they would install red light cameras at two troubled intersections. The footage showed a truck colliding with a car.
A new and improved Wikipedia article about red-light safety cameras has been posted on this popular free encyclopedia site. The article provides a more up-to-date account of red-light safety camera technology, the issues that surround the program and where and why it is used in the United States and countries around the world. Please take a look.
Des Moines, Wash., and Clayton County, Ga., have signed new contracts with American Traffic Solutions this week. Speed compliance cameras will be installed at selected school zone locations in Des Moines. The agreement in Clayton County provides for Red-Light Safety Cameras to be installed.
Letter to Editor: Liberty Doesn’t Mean Ignoring Law
The Herald (Washington), June 28, 2011
I now see that our constitutionally protected liberties include the liberty to do what we want, when we want to do it, especially if the situation is not dangerous to anyone else as determined by ourselves, like knowing when it’s OK to run a red light.
Letter to Editor: Red-Light Camera Ticket Could Save a Life
The Bellingham Herald (Washington), June 28, 2011
We need more of the proposed red light cameras, and violators need to be fined with $1,000 tickets.
Commentary: 7 Driving Mysteries That Could Save Your Life
YahooHealth.com, June 21, 2011
The most dangerous thing most people do in a typical day is get behind the wheel. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 5 to 34.
Poll Shows High Opinion of Red-Light Safety Cameras
WJLA TV Channel 7 (Washington, D.C.), June 30, 2011
A new study released Thursday shows just how many people in Washington, D.C., actually like red-light cameras, and the number may be higher than you think.
Media Reports Broadcast How-Cameras-Work Video
WTOP FM 103.5/WTOP.com (Washington, D.C.), June 29, 2011
Ever wonder how red-light safety cameras are programmed to snap a photo if a driver runs the light? The process is more than a flash and an automated ticket. In fact, most of it is far from automation.
Police Spot Red-Light Runners Frame by Frame
Asbury Park Press/APP.com (New Jersey), June 25, 2011
Under a state Department of Transportation pilot program, thousands of New Jersey drivers have been ticketed for running red lights at intersections monitored by cameras.
“I really think it will be a positive, and it will eventually, we hope, change the behavior and have people start stopping at red lights when they’re supposed to rather than seeing the yellow and speeding up.”
Michael Goldfarb, police chief of Eatontown, N.J.
Atlanticville.com (New Jersey), June 30, 2011
“It’s only a matter of time that a more serious accident will occur and someone dies.”
Jim Kern III, councilman and mayor-elect of Pohatcong Township, N.J.
The Express-Times (New Jersey), June 24, 2011
MSNBC photo by Nick Ut/AP
Canada
Traffic fatalities have decreased 25 percent in the province of Alberta, Canada, from 2007 to 2010. The province includes the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, two locations using red-light safety cameras. A total of 351 people died on the province’s roads in 2010. SOURCE: Calgary Herald, June 28, 2011.
Florida
Police officers issued 587 tickets and warnings to red-light runners in the past year in Melbourne. Officers reported 67 red light running crashes involving one fatality and 47 injuries for the past year. This week, the city passed an ordinance to allow red-light safety cameras. SOURCE: FloridaToday.com, June 29, 2011
More than 3,000 warning notices were issued to motorists during Doral’s 90-day red light safety camera phase-in period, for an average of 1,000 notices a month. SOURCE: The Miami Herald, June 27, 2011.
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