ATS’ Newsletter, Vol. 5, Issue 7

Header MediaCoverage 480

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Magistrate Keeps Red-Light Running Fines in Place
WJNO-Radio 1290 AM (Florida), Jan. 29, 2015

A West Palm Beach magistrate is refusing to throw out more than 60 red-light camera tickets, saying he will wait to see if the appeals court reverses itself or if the case goes to the Florida Supreme Court.

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Council OKs Red-Light Running Fines to Fund Spokane Safety Projects
KREM-TV CBS 2 (Washington), Jan. 26, 2015

Red-light cameras in Spokane bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in fines. City leaders said all that money goes toward projects that they say make Spokane a safer place to drive. (Spokane City Council image)

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Police Cite School Bus Driver in Red-Light Running Collision
Pekin Daily Times (Illinois), Jan. 26, 2015

No one was injured Monday when a school bus, empty except for its driver, struck a Canton city garbage truck downtown during the morning’s snowfall. The driver of the bus was cited for disobeying a red light after the 11 a.m. collision. (Pekin Daily Times photo by Mike Smothers)

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Ground Broken on ATS’ New Headquarters Building
East Valley Tribune (Arizona), Jan. 25, 2015

Lincoln Property Management broke ground on the Class A office space in Mesa Riverview on Jan. 21. The development, now called Waypoint, is scheduled to move in its first tenant, the headquarters of American Traffic Solutions, along with some 500-plus jobs, in November. See related article in GlobeSt.com.

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Witnesses Tell Police Motorcyclist Ran Red-Light
The Jersey Journal (New Jersey), Jan. 23, 2015

A motorcycle rider from Vermont was severely injured in a red-light running collision in Jersey City Heights on Jan. 23. Witnesses told police the motorcyclist ran the red light. (The Jersey Journal photo by Joe Shine)

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Deadly Running of Red Light Costs Man $2,300; Driver’s License for 90 Days
Edmonton Sun (Canada), Jan. 21, 2015

An Edmonton man who caused the death of a senior when he ran a red light at an intersection and collided with the man’s car was fined $2,300. The 24-year-old man was also hit with a 90-day driving prohibition after pleading guilty in Provincial Court to a Traffic Safety Act charge of careless driving. … The court prosecutor called it a “tragic” collision and said the driver’s actions were aggravating because the light he drove through had been red for some time and the intersection is in a residential area with a high volume of traffic. (Court photo)

 

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Car-Pedestrian Collision Critically Injures 12-Year-Old
WFTV-TV Channel 9 (Florida), Jan. 29, 2015

A 12-year-old boy was struck by a car while crossing the road at an Osceola County school bus stop early Thursday morning, according to Florida Highway Patrol Troopers. The bus was preparing to stop and had its amber lights on but had not yet deployed its stop bar. (WFTV-TV Channel 9 image)

 

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ATS Partners with Radio Engineering Industries to Address School Bus Stop Arm Running
Marketwired News, Jan. 28, 2015

American Traffic Solutions has added another partner to its school bus stop arm enforcement portfolio. In addition to its current integration with AngelTrax, ATS and Radio Engineering Industries will now work together to offer a school bus stop arm camera enforcement solution. CrossingGuard, ATS’ school bus stop arm running solution has proven to be extremely effective at reducing the number of vehicles that illegally pass stopped school buses.

Car Rear-Ends School Bus Stopped for Student
Wisconsin Star, Jan. 28, 2015

A car driver was injured when he rear-ended a school bus with 45 students. Ashland County sheriff’s officials said the bus was stopped to let a student out. It had its red lights flashing when a car struck the rear of the bus and slid under it, trapping the driver. Emergency workers freed the man. The Superior Telegram has since reported the man to be in fair condition.

2 North Carolina School Systems Choose Cameras for Safety
CivitasMedia (North Carolina), Jan. 25, 2015 

For the safety of students, motorists throughout North Carolina are required to come to a stop when they see the flashing lights of a school bus. Unfortunately, some motorists fail to obey. Thanks to state funding, a new device on some of the local buses may catch drivers who break the law. Clinton City Schools and Sampson County Schools received stop arm cameras to capture drivers who pass a stopped bus.

 

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Hopeless Romantic Proposes Using Speed Camera
The Hornet (California), Jan. 28, 2015

When she told her boyfriend his wedding proposal must be “memorable,” she didn’t expect this. A hopeless romantic in Germany used a speed camera to ask his girlfriend to marry him. To avoid being penalized with points against his license, he kept his speed within 6 mph of the posted speed limit. Police even included a separate page with a blown up version of his speed camera photo. See related article in The Telegraph. (Speed camera, The Telegraph photos)

Average Speed Camera Installation Successful in U.K.
ITS International, Jan. 27, 2015

Data from the A9 route in Scotland shows that the installation of average speed camera technology is helping cut crashes. This is Europe’s longest single enforcement scheme, with the technology having been installed along a 220 km stretch of the A9 in Scotland. The Scottish police force has commented that in the first three months of operation it has seen more than an eightfold decrease in the number of people caught speeding on this stretch of road compared with the same time last year when there were 2,493 offenses recorded. See related article in Full-Time Whistle.

 

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ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety #SpeedKills Slow down in school zones and keep our children safe! Learn more: atsol.com/solutions/spee…

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ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety  @CityofWilm red-light safety cameras show scary t-bone collision. Drive safe this weekend & #StopOnRed  youtu.be/YPTiPvCjm2U

ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety Great tips! How to Prevent Pedestrian Fatalities utne.com/community/prev #VisionZero #SpeedKills

ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety DYK? 2012 red-light running fatalities cost the public $6.5 billion. Spread the message #StopOnRed

 

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Toll-Funded Interchange to Open this Spring in Pennsylvania
Construction Equipment Guide, Jan. 28, 2015

A new E-ZPass-only interchange will soon be available to visitors traveling to and from the Pocono Mountains in Carbon County, Pa. The interchange is scheduled to open to traffic in the spring. The $23 million project is funded 100 percent by toll dollars and is being coordinated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. … Design plans include automatic tolling equipment. (Construction Equipment Guide photo)

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Toll Lanes Proposed for I-35 in Texas
WOAI-TV NBC 4 (Texas), Jan. 28, 2015

The Texas Department of Transportation has revealed its plans for the future of I-35 — and yes, it does include toll roads. The proposed toll lanes would stretch for 15 miles from the Loop 410 South interchange to FM 1103 in Schertz. TxDOT believes these additional lanes would relieve congestion that often causes stop-and-go traffic. (WOAI-TV NBC 4 image)

Editorial: Use the Bridges, Pay the Tolls
Abbotsford News (British Columbia, Canada), Jan. 28, 2015

As 42,000 drivers in B.C are discovering, failure to pay their bridge tolls is resulting in ICBC blocking them from driver’s license or vehicle insurance renewals. … It’s not as though these fees are new, or haven’t been thoroughly discussed and debated. … The reality is that the movement of traffic through the region requires river crossings, and those structures are astronomically expensive to build. They have to be financed somehow.

 

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Editorial: Red-Light Camera Use Should Stay City Prerogative
Daily News Journal (Tennessee), Jan. 26, 2015

Although a frequent complaint of Tennessee legislators is that the federal government is encroaching on its authority with enactment of laws, executive action and administrative policies, they often do not have the same reservations in regard to encroachment on local governments. State Rep. Andy Holt’s proposal to introduce a bill banning red-light cameras in the state is a case in point.  Decisions to use red-light cameras have been the responsibility of local governments … if the Legislature makes the decision, we think that’s encroachment on local government authority.

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Letter: Use Cameras to Enforce the Law — or Not
Newsday (New York), Jan. 27, 2015

Traffic law on Long Island is a matter of self-enforcement. There aren’t enough police in the world to adequately enforce traffic rules on the hundreds of thousands of drivers and roads. There are many who follow the rules, but there are far, far too many who have gotten extremely lax, and there are far too many who believe the rules do not apply to them. Use the roads at your discretion. If you violate the law, you are fined and fined and fined until you figure out your time is not more important than the next guy’s.

Letter: Yellow Light Does Not Mean Speed Up
The Dallas Morning News (Texas), Jan. 27, 2015

Even though I have received four citations for rolling right on red, I am pro red-light cameras. I believe that since the inception of the program, intersections have become safer, that drivers think twice about running yellow lights. Also, that if the number of rear-end accidents has actually increased, this supports the need for more enforcement of yellow-light offenders. Drivers need to understand that the yellow light is the precursor to the red, not the signal to speed up and proceed through the intersection.

Letter: Legislator Panders to Red-Light Runners
Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), Jan. 26, 2015

A proposal by state Rep. Andy Holt of Dresden to abolish red-light enforcement cameras statewide is unjustified and dangerous. His accusation that these cameras are for “municipal greed” instead of safety is a factually unfounded personal opinion. … Legislators should not take any action that could diminish public safety by joining Holt’s pandering to traffic violators. If they have questions or doubts, they should consult knowledgeable people and sources and not rely on conjecture, personal opinion and demagoguery from uninformed people such as Holt.

 

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“If our streets were a serial killer, we’d be on the rampage trying to get them to stop. Fact is, it’s not acceptable for anybody to die or be injured in the streets.”
Jon Snyder, Spokane City Councilman
KREM-TV CBS 2 (Washington), Jan. 26, 2015

“I think it’s a great tool. A lot of times when we get the complaints from the driver they probably can’t get a good picture or remember the car or the tag number, so it’s hard for us to follow up on it. If we have a picture, it’s kind of hard for them to deny the violation.”
Bryan Smith, Sergeant with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, regarding school bus stop arm cameras
CivitasMedia (North Carolina), Jan. 25, 2015