Header MediaCoverage 480

RedLightCamera_Intersection_Tampa_Florida_TBO.com_072111
2 Busy Tampa Intersections to Get Red-Light Cameras
Tampa Bay Business Journal (Florida), July 8, 2014

Tampa will add six new red-light safety cameras later this month bringing the citywide total to 55. Police monitoring the cameras will begin issuing tickets at the newly monitored intersections on July 11. (The Tampa Tribune photo by Jay Conner)

Intersection Changes Can’t Come Fast Enough
WTSP-TV CBS 10 (Florida), July 8, 2014

There’s a push underway right now to make a dangerous and deadly Bay area intersection safer.  … Of the 153 crashes from 2009 to 2013 FDOT says nearly half of them were rear end collisions. One driver is accused of speeding through a red light at the intersection at 70 miles an hour. The chain reaction crash in May left Doug Carey, a crossing guard, dead. See related article from WTSP-TV.

Phenix City, Ala., Adding More Red-Light Cameras
WRBL-TV CBS 3 (Georgia), July 8, 2014

Phenix City has added two new red light cameras at two intersections. The city now operates three cameras after installing their first camera at Broad Street and 13th Street last year. There were 50 crashes in the year before the camera went up and 32 crashes the year after, a 36 percent reduction in crashes. Opelika also operates four red-light cameras.

RLCSign_Intersection_FederalWay_Washington_070714
Facts on Federal Way’s Road Safety Cameras
Federal Way Mirror (Washington), July 7, 2014

Did you know the city of Federal Way has generated $8.62 million in eight years from its traffic cameras, accidents have decreased as a result of their presence and there were 24,454 traffic violations in 2013? Mirror staff asked the Federal Way Police Department for more information regarding its Traffic Safety Photo Enforcement Program. Read on to learn more:

Header SafeSpeeds 480

SpeedCamera_ChallengerPark_Chicago_Illinois_120613
Speed Safety Cameras to Be Installed in 12 New Areas in Chicago
WLS-TV ABC 7 (Illinois), July 5, 2014

The city has named 12 new locations it will install speed cameras at through the fall. The areas are all “Children’s Safety Zones,” or areas around schools or parks, the Chicago Department of Transportation said in a statement. See related article in Chicago Sun-Times.

Sioux City Police Chief Says Speeders Will be Ticketed
Sioux City Journal (Iowa), July 5, 2014

Sioux City police say they have ways of getting around a new South Dakota law designed to keep that state’s drivers from getting ticketed by automated traffic cameras. … Sioux City Police Chief Doug Young said,  “People in South Dakota need to understand that this is not a free pass that you’ve gotten from your government.”

Traffic Safety Puts Change on Radar in Pennsylvania
TribLive/Trib Total Media (Pennsylvania), July 5, 2014

Pennsylvania is the last state in the country to forbid local police from using radar for speed enforcement, but that could be changing. A Senate transportation committee hearing in Harrisburg in June renewed the debate with one big difference. For the first time in more than 40 years, state police support the idea of local police use of radar or the newer laser-based, speed-enforcement system known as LIDAR.

Header SchoolZoneSafety 480

CarInSchoolZone_NewYorkCity_WABCTV7_031913
School Chiefs Favor Speed Camera Plan
Elmont Herald (New York), July 8, 2014

Al Harper, Patrick Manley and Dr. Ralph Ferrie, the superintendents of the Elmont, Franklin Square and Sewanhaka school districts, respectively, all said they believed New York’s school zone speed safety camera program would yield positive results and help make school zones safer.

 

Header CrossingGuard NoTM  480

Iowa City School Bus Cameras Will Be Watching Motorists
The Gazette (Iowa), July 8, 2014

By the time the next school year rolls around, Iowa City Community School District buses will be equipped with external-facing video cameras to help catch those who disobey the law.The so-called stop-arm cameras will help document violations when motorists pass a school bus when the stop-arm is extended.

Albemarle Supervisors OK Cameras to Catch Drivers Passing Stopped School Buses
The Republic (Indiana), July 3, 2014

Cameras will be installed on Albemarle County, Virginia, school buses to catch drivers who go around the vehicles at stops. Media outlets report that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Wednesday to add security cameras to school buses. Albemarle County deputy chief of police Ron Lantz says the goal is to catch violators when police can’t be there.

Header Toll Roads 480

ServicePlaza_OhioTurnpike2_USAToday_070314
Toll Road Rest Stops Rev Up Services, Quality
USA Today, July 3, 2014

These are not your grandfather’s rest stops. In fact, they’re not rest stops at all, not in the sense of a traditional interstate highway rest stop, where one can find a restroom and vending machines and not much else. These are the expansive travel plazas or service plazas found only alongside toll roads, and states that have them are expanding to accommodate much higher vehicle counts than were on the roads when most first opened decades ago.

Local Turnpike Traffic Steady as Toll Rates Rise
Herald Standard (Pennsylvania), July 3, 2014

For the seventh consecutive year, those who travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s roads will be hit with a toll increase, though numbers show that the hikes have not reduced local travel.

 

Header TweetOfTheWeek 480

Graphic_SchoolBus_StudentCrossing_070714
ATS_Road Safety @ATS_RoadSafety Do you stop for the school bus stop arm? Keep our children safe. Learn how: ATSCrossingGuard.com

 

Header Commentaries 480

Computer Keyboard No. 2_DL122612
Commentary: Speed Cameras in School Zones Can Help Avoid Tragedies
San Angelo Standard Times (Texas), July 3, 2014

In a recent misguided rant against school zone speed safety cameras, a writer would have us believe our children are perfectly safe walking to school. If that were the true, 20 mph school zones and crossing guards would be unnecessary and parents, teachers and police would not need to remind children again and again to look both ways before crossing the street. View pdf version.

Commentary: Benefits of Federal Way’s Photo Enforcement Program
Federal Way Mirror (Washington), July 3, 2014

The Traffic Safety Photo Enforcement Program enables the city to provide ongoing, consistent enforcement at chronic, high-violation locations, increasing safety for motorists and pedestrians, including school children using the three school zones. It would be prohibitively expensive to provide this level of enforcement at these locations with police officers.

NewspaperRolledUp_DL122612
Editorial: A Green Light for Red-Light Cameras
The Island Now (New York), July 3, 2014

In his presentation last week to the Great Neck Chamber of Commerce, Nassau County Traffic Safety Board Director Chris Minstron made a convincing case for the county’s use of red-light cameras.

NewspaperWithPen_DL122612
Letter to the Editor: Don’t Like Cameras? Don’t Run the Red Light
Ledger-Enquirer (Georgia), July 8, 2014

The bottom line is that these cameras really do deter traffic light violations, and they really do prevent accidents. At the first Phenix City intersection where a traffic signal camera was installed — Broad and 13th Streets — there has been a 36 percent decrease in traffic accidents, according to Police Chief Ray Smith.

Letter: Speed Cameras in School Zones Is a Smart Move
Newsday (New York), July 8, 2014

I say, kudos, for adding speed cameras in school zones. About two years ago, my neighbor Joe, who was 86, and his dog Sandy were hit by a speeding car trying to make the light in Glen Oaks Village. This was one block away from a school. I hope the $50 fine will make some people think before they speed down our residential streets.

Letter: Install More Cameras, Fences along Turnpike
Newsday (New York), July 7, 2014

As a person who works along Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, delivering for UPS, I see what happens there every day. Drivers run red lights where there are no red-light cameras. They are talking and texting on their cellphones. It’s no wonder you put your life on the line when you attempt to cross the turnpike

Letter: Put More Red-Light Cameras on the Streets
San Leandro (California), July 3, 2014

We get it, red-light ticket-holder. You are annoyed that we, the people of San Leandro, used technology to catch you. Our police officers are busy catching car thieves and muggers. First you complained about the cost of the ticket. We know you are actually complaining about getting caught in the first place. We know this because you don’t give us a price you are willing to pay. The fine needs to hurt to work.

Header QuoteOfTheWeek 480

Mangano,Edward_CountyExecutive_NassauCounty_Newsday_011014
“A school safety report indicates 200 motorists per hour exceeded the posted speed limit by 25 miles per hour. I thank Governor Cuomo for approving this pilot program, as it protects our children and serves as an important message to motorists to exercise care in our school zones.”
Ed Mangano, Nassau County Executive
Elmont Herald (New York), July 8, 2014

Gaarde,Scott_PoliceSergeant_IowaCity_Iowa_2013
“Any time there is video surveillance, it makes evidence stronger for prosecution purposes.”
Scott Gaarde, Iowa City Police Sergeant
The Gazette (Iowa), July 8, 2014

Hwang,Andy_PoliceChief_FederalWay_Washington_070314
“Intersection traffic safety cameras have practically eliminated complaints about vehicles blocking intersections at the busiest congested locations, improving traffic flow and safety.”
Andy J. Hwang, Federal Way Police Chief
Federal Way Mirror (Washington), July 3, 2014