New guidelines for automated enforcement programs emphasize safety amid rise in red-light-running crash deaths
Arlington (Virginia), July 24, 2018 

To encourage cities and localities to use automated enforcement, four national safety organizations have developed a red light camera checklist for local policymakers, law enforcement agencies and transportation officials. Released today by AAA, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Safety Council, the checklist provides practical instructions for planning, implementing and evaluating red light camera programs, including steps to help communities build and maintain public support.

Red light camera program checklist

National Stop on Red Week is a few weeks away! Help us spread the message by using#StopOnRed2018 August 5-11.

New Orleans attorney: Traffic cameras could save lives better than they could raise revenue
New Orleans (Louisiana), July 22, 2018

Keep the traffic cameras in New Orleans. I can’t count the number of times in the past few months that I have had a near miss as I was proceeding through a green light when a car ran through the opposing red light. From my point of view, this is a safety matter, not a revenue-raising issue.

I have received more than one ticket for turning right at the corner of Poydras and St. Charles Avenue. After a couple of $120 tickets, I can assure you I stop fully before proceeding to make a right turn. I think the same is true of the general driving public. The threat of a financial penalty makes drivers more cautious and thereby safer drivers.

New Orleans urban planner: Besides crime, here’s one big way we can make city safer
New Orleans (Louisiana), July 23, 2018

Statistics from the Highway Safety Research Group at LSU show that there were 5,894 crashes causing injuries in Orleans Parish in 2014 and 6,657 in 2015. These numbers are 150 percent and 170 percent greater than the number of personal crimes committed in Orleans Parish for those same years, according to NOPD data. The contrast between these numbers will likely come as a surprise to most people, given the frequent, detailed coverage of every robbery, assault, and pickpocketing covered in the local news. In this “If it bleeds, it leads” era of local journalism, roadway violence is getting left behind. This isn’t to bash local journalism; personal crime has received infinitely more attention from local politicians than traffic violence.

 

Red-light-running crash test demonstration
Arlington (Virginia), July 24, 2018

More than 800 people died in crashes involving red light running in 2016, an increase of 17 percent since 2012, an IIHS analysis shows. The increase comes as fewer U.S. communities are using red light cameras to enforce the law and reduce crashes.

This demonstration crash of a 2010 Ford F-150 striking a 2007 Chrysler Sebring recreates a real-life red-light-running collision. In the real crash, which occurred in Yuma, Ariz., in 2012, the Sebring’s driver was severely injured.

To encourage cities and localities to use automated enforcement, four national safety organizations have developed a red light camera checklist for local policymakers, law enforcement agencies and transportation officials. Released by AAA, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Safety Council, the checklist provides practical instructions for planning, implementing and evaluating red light camera programs, including steps to help communities build and maintain public support.

Orange Park Police Department Shares RLC Program Footage
Orange Park (Florida), July 25, 2018

Check it out!

Kent to add two more school traffic cameras
Kent (Washington), July 20, 2018

Kent drivers will soon face two more school traffic camera zones and could eventually see the city’s first red light cameras.

Ocoee PD posts top red light violations
Ocoee (Florida), July 30, 2018

Ocoee Police has started posting videos of people whizzing through red light camera intersections. Each video is more dangerous and scary than the last. All it takes is a few seconds on the road to cause a crash. Red light crash after red light near-crash are now being blasted on Facebook by Ocoee Police.

“A lot of people really get an education about how bad some of these violations are,” said Ocoee Police Deputy Chief Stephen McCosker.