I posted last year in favor of these and wanted to follow up with some statistics:
The number of traffic accidents at more than a dozen high-volume Knoxville intersections dropped 17 percent last year after the installation of photo enforcement or "red light" cameras at those locations.The complaints I have seen on blogs are hilarious. It's mostly guys not wanting to get caught with their mistress in their car. Other than that it's just President Bush's fault that these exist, which is hilarious since he's Republican and doesn't like big government.More importantly the number of total angle accidents - often referred to as "t-bone crashes" - were down 45 percent at those intersections in 2006 when compared to same period in 2005.
The camera-enforcement system installed pursuant to a contract with Red Flex Traffic Systems Inc. has also recorded over 62,000 separate instances of motorists running those red lights according to Knoxville Police Department Statistics.
The camera system became operational in April of 2006 and is currently operating at 13 different intersections.
"These cameras have cost the taxpayers nothing and have reduced crashes at the intersections where they have been installed," said KPD Chief Sterling Owen IV. "They've made our streets safer for the citizens who travel on them and have brought an awareness of driver behavior that we expect will have a long-term impact."
4 comments:
I still don't like them. It brings us one step closer to a nanny state. A bigger government than we care to imagine.
And how could these cameras have "cost the taxpayers nothing?" Did the company who manufactures them donate them to the city?
They don't resemble a nanny state at all, and even if they did too many jackasses out there need a nanny anyway. Yeah, the company installs them knowing they will profit because so many people break the law.
How does the company profit by giving away free product? The fines and fees associated with being caught by a camera are the same as being ticketed by an officer. They all go to the government, not to the company who installed the cameras. If that were the case there would be an outcry like no other about the dreaded outsourcing of police duties to an evil private corporation.
From the article:
"There is no cost to the taxpayers," said KPD Capt. Gordon Catlett, the program's manager. "The only people who pay for this program are the people who violate the law."
The bottom line is these are effective whether or not we like them. I am all for anything that will keep people from killing or injuring my family.
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