ATS’ Newsletter, Vol. 6, Issue 42

Graphic_BBBEthicsAward_DL041316

Video of Week Header_012816

schoolbusstop_roanoke_virginia_092716
Car Strikes Kindergartner on Way to Stopped School Bus
WFXR-TV FOX 27 (Virginia), Sept. 27, 2016

A Roanoke kindergarten student was hit by a car while crossing the street to get on the bus. … The bus had its stop sign out and red stop lights flashing. Adults nearby had to yell at the driver to back off the girl’s foot. Authorities ticketed the driver for passing a stopped school bus while it was loading. (WFXR image)

 

Header CrossingGuard NoTM 480

SchoolBus_StopSign_NewYork_083116
Would Cameras on School Buses Help in Staten Island?
Staten Island Advance (New York), Sept. 26, 2016

First came cameras to record speeding motorists in school districts, and now, perhaps, cameras that can record drivers whizzing past stopped school buses. … At least 15 states allow cameras to be mounted outside school buses to record motorists illegally passing while the buses are stopped, with their red lights flashing and stop arms extended. Legislators are working to change the law so New York may also use this technology. (Daily Messenger/WHEC-TV NBC 10 image)

SchoolBus_ThreeInRowOnStreet_CobbCounty_Georgia_080613
School Districts See Results with School Bus Safety Cameras
School Bus Fleet (National), Sept. 26, 2016

The stop-arm cameras and other initiatives have yielded clear results for Georgia’s Cobb County School District. According to Rick Grisham, executive director of transportation for the district, over a duration of about four years, violations dropped from 1,800 to 900 per day — a 50 percent decrease. Also, less than 2 percent of the motorists who are caught in the act are repeat offenders. “There’s no doubt in my mind it reduces the violations that are going on out there every day,” Grisham says of the stop-arm cameras. (FOX 5 Atlanta image)

 

Header MediaCoverage 480

RLC_CloseUp_Clermont_Florida_CentralFloridaNewsTV13_021213
Elgin Taps Red-Light Running Funds to Buy Police Equipment
Elgin Courier (Texas), Sept. 27, 2016

The Elgin City Council passed a budget last week that includes using approximately $352,000 from its red-light camera fund to purchase new vehicles for the police department, body cameras for the police, other police equipment purchases and $100,000 for the installation of speed cushions on six streets in town.

intersectionofdoom_kewgardens_newyork_092616
Residents Want Safety Measures at ‘Intersection of Doom’
DNAinfo.com (New York), Sept. 26, 2016

A group of Kew Gardens residents, who said a corner in their neighborhood is so dangerous for pedestrians that they started calling it the “Intersection of Doom,” are pushing for traffic safety improvements, including a red-light camera and lane separators. (DNAinfo.com image by Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)

Red-Light Runner Strikes Self-Driving Car
Mountain View Voice (California), Sept. 25, 2016

One of Google’s self-driving cars was involved in a collision Sept. 23 after a driver ran a red light and slammed into the autonomous vehicle as it passed through a busy intersection in Mountain View. No one was hurt in the crash, police said. A statement released by Google said the light had been green for six seconds prior to the Google car entering the intersection.

StreetScene_Hagerstown_Maryland_092212
Hagerstown Still Eyeing Red-Light Cameras
Hagerstown Herald-Mail (Maryland), Sept. 22, 2016

Hagerstown Police Chief Victor Brito said that the department is still looking at implementing another camera program to control motorists who run red lights. The department has been exploring using red-light cameras at four intersections in the city due to the number of violations and crashes between 2011 and 2013. (Herald-Mail image)

 

Header TweetOfTheWeek 480

TwitterImage_ATS_DL022615
ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety Great panel w/@CharleyTerrito and @Visionzeronet discussing the importance of #VisionZero & road safety at #NACTO16

TwitterImage_ATS_DL022615
ATS_RoadSafety @ATS_RoadSafety Did you know that red-light cameras reduced traffic fatalities by 24 percent? Get the facts! bit.ly/mRU6Y2 #RoadSafety #StopOnRed

 

Header Toll Roads 480

tolls_suntraxtestfacility_rendering_florida_092816
Tolling Is Among Technologies to Be Tested at New Florida Facility
The Daily Ridge, Sept. 28, 2016

Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Polytechnic University are partners in a project to construct a new, state-of-the-art transportation technology testing facility. The initial phase of the project involves the construction of an innovative toll testing facility expected to offer local and potentially national and international certification for tolling technologies. The facility will establish Florida as a transportation technology leader and create a high-tech hub for the research, development and testing of emerging transportation technologies. (Florida Polytechnic University image)

tolls_interstate405expresslanes_washington_092716
I-405 Tolling in Washington Reaches 1-Year Anniversary
KING-TV NBC 5, Sept. 26, 2016

Sept. 27th marked the one year anniversary since tolling started on Interstate 405. The 17-mile stretch allows drivers to pay to use HOV lanes, and carpools in that area now require three people. “In that one year, we’ve seen that express toll lanes are doing what they’re intended to do. They’re providing a faster, more predictable trip,” said Emily Pace, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation. See related editorial at The Daily Herald. (Washington State Department of Transportation image)

 

Header Commentaries 480

NewspaperRolledUp_DL122612
Editorial: Saving Child’s Life Worth Cost of Bus Cameras
The Day (Connecticut), Sept. 27, 2016

After an 11-year-old Wyoming girl was killed by a pickup truck illegally passing her school bus even as its red lights were flashing, that state in 2014 became the first in the nation to mandate all public school buses be equipped with cameras designed to catch such scofflaws. Thankfully, the number of such tragedies is low nationwide. The same cannot be said about the risk, however. … A child exiting or entering a school bus is no match for a speeding, illegally passing vehicle. School districts should consider installing exterior bus cameras as an effective tool aimed at preventing a tragedy and the state should explore ways to help them pay for it.