20 Reasons to Oppose Photo Radar
1. Encourages Criminal Activity
Outsourcing of law enforcement is a breeding ground for corruption. The incentive to rob people is in the profits the tickets generate. Kickbacks and offers of high paying jobs with photo radar companies are being reported here and in other countries.
Cities, including Paradise Valley, Dallas, Lubbock, Baytown, Beaverton, Union City, Springfield, and Chattanooga, have all been caught shortening yellow lights to increase profits from red light cameras. Bethesda left a yellow light at a photo radar intersection at 2.7 seconds for a year after the public complained, even though every other yellow light on the street was 4 seconds.
The reason why short yellow lights create a trap for people driving is that short yellow lights create an "impossible to stop" zone in which a certain percentage of people approaching an intersection become caught in the dilemma of not being able to stop safely before the light turns red, and not being able to cross into the intersection without technically running a red light.
http://www.motorists.org:80/blog/6-cities-that-were-caught-shortening-yellow-light-times-for-profit/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/12/eveningnews/main558431.shtml
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/5145005cp.shtml
http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2009/06/29/20090629lights0629.html
http://thenewspaper.com/news/28/2827.asp
In Italy, a speed camera company was caught in a fraud scandal that involved 109 officials and contractors. Italian police found 81,555 speed camera tickets worth $16 million were fraudulently issued. Prosecutors believe that some of these cameras were calibrated in such a way that motorists adhering to the speed limit would receive citations. Photo radar units bearing the same individual serial number were also being used by different municipalities located hundreds of miles apart, preventing proper calibration testing requirements. As a result, $16 million fraudulently issued tickets, between 2007 and 2009 have been cancelled, refunds will be given and license points will be removed.
In January, the makers of the T-Red brand of red light cameras were similarly arrested for fraud after prosecutors found motorists were being trapped at intersections with short yellows and improperly certified equipment
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2795.asp#source
Based out of Phoenix, Australian corporation Redflex violated federal law by using radar units that were not FCC certified.
In 2008, Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer confirmed that Redflex documents used to convict motorists of speeding in Lafayette, Louisiana contained elements that had been falsified. Four Arizona laws were violated while purporting to certify a speed camera deployment form for use in official hearings. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/24/2464.asp
In June, Christopher Everette Jacobs, a Redflex employee in Longview, Texas was indicted on nine counts, including three of aggravated sexual assault, four of sexual performance by a child and two of possession or promotion of child pornography.
The case against Jacobs began after sheriff's office investigators received a complaint from a woman that a neighbor had been taking pictures of her 8-year-old daughter.
Redflex employee, Roderick Ruffin, was arrested in Scottsdale for “extreme DUI” while driving an automated ticketing van.
Another driver was accused of aggravated assault and found guilty of driving at a speed greater than reasonable and had his license suspended.
These are some of the criminals that Redflex has hired that can access your DMV records and can find out where you live.
Arizona Sheriff Babeu says, "It's driven to create money for the government. It's corrupting law enforcement for us to be partnered with a private entity that creates revenue - clearly that's their interest."
2. Hurts Local Businesses and Tourism
Hundreds of millions of American dollars have been funneled to Redflex (with its Australian shareholders), photo enforcement companies, and stagnant local governments. This is money that would have been spent at local businesses.
Speed and red light cameras brought in $52 million in fines in Montgomery County and the District (Fiscal Year 2009), according to AAA.
Washington, DC collected a total of $40.5 million - $33,377,810 was in speed camera ticket revenue and $7,153,622 in revenue from its red-light camera program
Montgomery County Fiscal Year 2009: collected $18.6 million in speed camera revenue.
http://www.news8.net/news/stories/1209/686294.html
Revenue for Redflex increased from $88.2 million (2008) to $130.9 million (2009), a 48% increase per Redflex 2009 annual report.
Consumers Avoid Areas with the Cameras
Residents of Heath, Ohio and surrounding areas responded to photo enforcement by boycotting local businesses and eventually voting out photo enforcement and the city council members responsible for the implementation of it. You can read their responses to the cameras at the link below:
http://www.meetup.com/camerafraud/messages/boards/thread/8094738
Duane Goodwin, who helped put the referendum on the city ballot, cited Redflex traffic counts that showed 58,754 fewer automobiles had traveled on camera-monitored roads -- a 27 percent decrease in traffic -- as a result of out-of-town motorists avoiding the cameras by shopping elsewhere.
"Our little town revolves around business," Goodwin said. "It's a crushing blow."
A survey of six national chain stores that operate in Heath as well as nearby Lancaster and Zanesville showed that Heath sales were off nearly 14 percent compared to a 2 to 3 percent drop in the other cities.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2945.asp
The city of Schaumburg, Illinois found itself in hot water when locals and out of towners vowed to stop shopping at the Woodfield Mall unless the right turn camera was turned off. The village stopped monitoring right turns at the intersection in January.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123811365190053401.html
Loma Linda, California Councilman Rhodes "Dusty" Rigsby urged his fellow council members this past week to cancel the city's contract with Red flex Traffic Systems. He said the $450 fines imposed on violators since the cameras were installed in January 2006 have generated $12 million in revenue for the courts and the city, "Is $12 million drained out of the economy of Loma Linda and our visitors worth the aggregate accident reductions that we saw?"
Councilman Ovidiu Popescu echoed Rigsby's sentiments
"I have heard it over and over again: 'I no longer like coming to Loma Linda because of the red-light cameras,' " Popescu said. "There are people who stopped going to the doctor in Loma Linda because of red-light cameras. There are people who avoid certain streets and go to other streets, cause more problems, because of red-light cameras."
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_N_nredlight15.47fb408.html
In Washington, DC, $40.5 million was collected for photo enforcement tickets in the fiscal Year 2009:
http://www.news8.net/news/stories/1209/686294.html
Phoenix, Arizona is already known for its high tax rate on rental cars. Now, for the first time, AAA has designated the entire state of Arizona as a strict enforcement area, not very welcoming indeed. Think the cameras aren’t hurting your local businesses - think again
3. Endangers Drivers
Driving conditions on freeways are made especially dangerous in rainy weather; morning and evening sun glare as drivers react to the cameras by slamming on their brakes.
Accident rates across the country are increasing with the use of photo enforcement:
Baytown, Texas
Accidents rose after the installation of a red light camera at one major intersection in Baytown, Texas. Accident reports from all three monitored approaches of the Garth and Baker intersection from eighteen months before the installation of cameras compared to the same period afterward show an 11% increase in accidents.
Although proponents of cameras frequently suggest that the increase in rear end collisions (31 percent in this case) is offset by the reduction in "more serious" collisions, the data show, to the contrary, that there was no reduction at all in the number of serious injury accidents.
Total accidents, red light violation accidents, and rear end accidentsall went up.
http://www.saferbaytown.com/
http://thenewspaper.com/news/29/2971.asp
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2009/tx-bayax.pdf
Temple Terrace, Florida
According to the Temple Terrace Police, the number of accidents at intersections with red light cameras from when they first went operational October 2008 through February of this year was up 133 % compared to the previous year when there were no cameras.
Chief of Police Kenneth Albano says "We did show an increase in the number of crashes."
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/INVESTIGATION-Are-one-communitys-red-light/fNEW9IsGTEaeEp2V8PZwYQ.cspx?rss=794
http://www.abcactionnews.com/media/lib/89/0/0/d/00dfa38e-ad8f-4d81-ac21-2092e319475b/City_of_Temple_Terrace_Crash_Study.pdf
http://www.abcactionnews.com/media/lib/89/7/7/a/77a3e615-99c0-4172-a336-fadc5916270d/Temple_Terrace_Citations_Statistics.pdf
At intersections with cameras, the number of accidents more than doubled from six to fourteen. Contrary to claims that red light cameras decrease accident severity, the average police estimate of damage costs for each accident increased by twenty percent after cameras were installed. (11/7/09)
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2953.asp
Grand Prairie, Canada
Accidents increased significantly at intersections equipped with red light cameras in Grande Prairie, Canada according to a city report completed last month. The review found that after a full year of use, cameras generated $1.2 million in revenue along with a 126 percent increase in injury collisions.
100 St at 132 Ave / 4 / 16 / +300%
100 St at 116 Ave / 7.5 / 9 / +20%
100 St at 100 Ave / 4 / 10 / +150%
100 St at 99 Ave / 4 / 6 / +50%
100 St at 84 Ave / 3.5 / 4 / +14%
116 St at 100 Ave / 3 / 6 / +100%
108 St at 100 Ave / 4.5 / 18 / +300%
Total / 30.5 / 69 / +126%
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2936.asp
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2009/can-grandeprairie.pdf
The number of injury collisions at Grande Prairie’s seven red-light camera intersections is considerably higher than average since the system went active, according to Enforcement Services’ Year 1 report on the initiative.
Between June 2008 and June this year, there were 2,963 vehicle collisions in the city; 338 involved injuries and about 20% were at red-light camera locations.
Since 2005, collisions within the city are up 43% overall.
At the time the report was compiled, there were 18 collisions involving injuries at 108 Street (Wapiti Road) and 100 Avenue, up from an average of 4.5 between 2001 and 2005. This intersection saw the most significant increase.
100 Street and 132 Avenue saw 16, up from four; city-center’s 100 Street and 100 Avenue saw 10, up from four; 100 Street and 116 Avenue (the bypass intersection) saw nine, up from 7.5; 100 Street and 99 Avenue downtown saw six, up from four; 116 Street and 100 Avenue on the west side saw six, up from three; and 100 Street and 84 Avenue on the south side saw four, up from 3.5.
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2138310
Peoria, Arizona:
According to numbers from the Police Department, collisions at the four intersections have doubled since a private company finished installing red light cameras in June 2008.
During the 2007 fiscal year, from July 1 to June 30, there were 36 collisions at the intersections. In fiscal 2008, there were 73.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/peoria/articles/2009/08/31/20090831gl-peoredlight0831-ON.html#comments
· At 91st Avenue and Bell road, accidents increased 100 percent, including a 120 percent jump in rear end and "stopped for red light" collisions, in the year after red light cameras were installed. In the four months after the yellow light was increased from 4.0 to 4.5 seconds, violations immediately dropped 80 percent on the eastbound approach and 70 percent westbound.
· At 75th Avenue and Thunderbird Road, accidents increased 480 percent. The number of right angle and head-on collisions increased from 4 to 20, while rear-end collisions also jumped 400 percent. After the yellow light was increased from 4.0 to 4.5 seconds, violations decreased 45 percent eastbound and 26 percent northbound.
· At 83rd Avenue and Union Hills, where cameras monitor only left turns, accidents increased just 11 percent. The yellow light increase from 3.0 seconds to 3.5 seconds yielded an immediate 57 percent drop in violations.
· At 83rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road, accidents increased 29 percent, including a 300 percent jump in rear-end collisions. This location serves as a control intersection for considering the effects of not increasing the yellow duration. Unlike the three other locations, violations increased 111 percent at this intersection where the signal timing remained unchanged at 4.5 seconds.
Taken together, accidents increased a total of 103 percent at all four intersections. This result is consistent with the findings of a number of independent studies on the effect of photo enforcement. At the three intersections with yellow light increases violations dropped an average of 42 percent. Peoria officials got the message about the importance of yellow timing.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2887.asp
Peoria police department data:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2009/az-peoriastats.pdf
Corpus Christi, Texas
The total number of accidents in Corpus Christi increased 14 %, from 310 incidents to 353, at nine locations where automated ticketing machines were stationed.
Contrary to the claim that red light cameras reduce the severity of collisions, the number of accidents involving injuries increased 28 % from 140 to 179. Rear end collisions increased by nearly a third from 160 to 208.
The city's data compared about nineteen months of accident history at nine intersections before cameras were installed compared with a roughly equal period during which the devices were actively issuing citations. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2743.asp
Engineering services department – Corpus Christi data
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2009/corpuscrashes.pdf
Lubbock, Texas
The controversial red light camera program in Lubbock came to an end after a report documented a significant increase in the number of accidents at photo enforced intersections. The results were consistent with a preliminary study that also failed to document a safety benefit following the installation of automated ticketing machines.
Despite a 2.7 percent reduction in intersection crashes citywide, the total number of collisions increased at each of the eleven intersections with a red light camera when comparing the first six months of camera enforcement (July through December 2007) to the same period in 2005 without cameras. The totals reflected a 52 percent increase in collisions with rear end crashes up by 60 percent. http://thenewspaper.com/news/21/2168.asp
Lubbock Studies:
http://thenewspaper.com/rlc/pix/lubchartfull.jpg
http://thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2008/tx-lubbock0801.pdf
You will hear that t-bone accidents decrease with red light cameras, but the
Virginia Dot Report showed the cameras were associated with an increase of between 31 percent and 54 percent for rear-end crashes overall," the report found. "The association of the cameras with angle crashes differed among jurisdictions, although a preponderance of test results suggested an increase."