What’s The Story about Red Light Cameras? Or Why I’m Circulating a Petition to Get Rid of Them
Part One
(This first appeared in the April 2, 2009 Today Newspaper)
There are eight Red Light Cameras in Duncanville, a city with a population of 38,500. In 2008, the total number of traffic citations issued by the entire Duncanville Police Department was 5,848. How many Red Light Camera citations were mailed out in Duncanville in 2008? 43,955. At $75 each, that’s an incredible $3,296,625. Contrary to what many people believe, only about 5% of Red Light Camera citations in Duncanville are for driving straight through on red. Maybe 10% are for turning left on red. The vast majority -- at least 85% -- of Red Light Camera citations in Duncanville are for turning right on red. That’s the real moneymaker. Most of those are not for speeding through the turn or even “rolling” through the turn, but for stopping at the intersection instead of at the designated white line, which of course is set too far back to see oncoming traffic. And what’s the legal definition of an intersection? Not the white line. It’s the “prolongation of lateral curb lines” -- the area formed when you connect the ends of the sidewalks.
What happens if someone actually stops at the designated white line? You wouldn’t want him to make a turn from that point, because he can’t see anything. To turn safely, he must move up and stop again at the intersection. But drivers in back may not expect that, so you increase the risk of rear-impact collisions. Often, even coming to a complete stop at the white line won’t keep you from getting a citation. The attorney hired by the City to hear appeals of Red Light Camera citations has told people that even though they stopped at the line, they didn't stop long enough. How long do you need to stop? One second? Two seconds? No time is mentioned in any city or state law.
Even if not used to generate revenue by producing thousands of phony citations for safely turning right on red, Red Light Cameras violate the most basic rules of due process, such as:
1. You cannot question your accuser or call any witnesses;
2. You’re not allowed a trial by jury;
3. There’s no presumption of innocence; and
4. You’re charged with one violation, but prosecuted for another. On a right turn on red citation, the charge is “Entered intersection on red signal,” but the actual violation is “Failure to stop at the designated stop line.”
Often, Red Light Camera citations are mailed to an old address so by the time people get them, it’s too late to request a hearing and a $25 late fee kicks in. One person to whom that happened told me she didn’t even know she had a Red Light Camera citation until she received a letter from a collections agency. “Funny that the collection agency found me,” she said, “but the City didn't.”
The City claims that the money it gets from Red Light Camera citations can only be spent on traffic control and street maintenance. That is very misleading -- the City must pay for traffic control and street maintenance anyway. If it can get that money from Red Light Cameras, that frees up an equal amount from the general fund to spend on something else.
The 44,000 Red Light Camera citations issued in Duncanville in 2008 can be thought of as a stealth tax of over three million dollars a year. Not all of that money goes to the City -- but all of it comes from the pockets of those who live, work, or shop in Duncanville. Many people living outside of Duncanville who receive Red Light Camera citations tell me they now try to avoid coming here at all. Our sales tax revenue was down again last month, down over 6%. We need to invite people into Duncanville, not push them away with Red Light Camera citations. Next week, we’ll look at the truth behind the claim that Red Light Cameras reduce traffic accidents. Talk to you then.
What’s The Story about Red Light Cameras? Or Why I’m Circulating a Petition to Get Rid of Them
Part Two
(This first appeared in the April, 2009 Today Newspaper)
“It’s about saving lives!” Duncanville Mayor David Green emoted to all who would listen when the Red Light Camera scandal in Duncanville first hit the news. But those who say Red Light Cameras improve safety have very little accurate data to back that up. Study after study shows the opposite -- Red Light Cameras actually cause an increase in accidents. In Houston, accidents at intersections with Red Light Cameras increased 30%, and a Federal Highway Administration study showed they significantly increased rear-impact collisions. Lubbock, Texas abolished Red Light Cameras after finding they increased accidents by an amazing 52%.
To be accurate, studies about Red Light Cameras must take into account changes in traffic flow and the number of accidents at nearby intersections. Why? Because many people avoid intersections with Red Light Cameras and then bunch up at nearby intersections, causing more accidents there – the “spillover effect.”
Two of the largest studies of Red Light Cameras that did analyze data on traffic flow and “spill-over” accidents were carried out by the Virginia Transportation Research Council and the North Carolina Urban Transit Institute. Both studies reported an increase in accidents. The North Carolina Urban Transit Institute study concluded, “The results do not support the view that Red Light Cameras reduce crashes. Instead, we find that Red Light Cameras are associated with higher levels of many types and severity categories of crashes. In many ways, the evidence points toward the installation of Red Light Cameras as a detriment to safety.”
Many people say they are so afraid of getting a Red Light Camera citation that they no longer turn right on red but wait until the light changes to green before turning. What can happen then? A news reporter told me she personally witnessed an incident at the intersection of Danieldale and Highway 67 when a car waited for the light to change to green before turning right. The car behind it pulled out to go around just as the light changed to green, and there was almost a collision; that’s what Red Light Cameras can do.
Supporters of Red Light Cameras say the cameras make people drive more safely, but Red Light Cameras have the opposite effect. Red Light Cameras create artificial barriers to safe driving. They force people to stop where they shouldn’t, and to not stop were they should. Red Light Cameras are structurally designed to penalize safe driving and create violations.
Ever wonder why the defenders of Red Light Cameras in Duncanville never get specific when they talk about how the cameras have reduced the number of accidents? That’s because the number of accidents in Duncanville has actually gone up. According to a March 19, 2009 report by the Duncanville Police Department, there were 54 accidents in Duncanville this past year, and only 38 the year before. The number of major accidents was the same -- 25 -- but the number of minor accidents increased by 42%. This increase in accidents occurred even though fewer people were driving last spring and summer because of the rise in gas prices, even though fewer people are driving now because of the economy, and even though fewer people are driving to Duncanville to shop.
The official position of the City on Red Light Cameras was stated on television by Duncanville City Manager Kent Cagle: “We are protecting our residents from all these people blowing through town at high rates of speed and going through red lights.” I ask everyone who has received one of those 44,000 Red Light Camera citations: Were you blowing through town at a high rate of speed? Or were you safely turning right on red but didn’t stop at the designated white line set way back from the intersection?
We must abolish Red Light Cameras in Duncanville because they are a fraud -- an unsafe, revenue-generating scam. Our city government must stop taking advantage of us. Our city government must stop trying to deceive us. Our city government must stop trying to defend that which cannot be defended. Government and the people should be on the same side. If only it could be that way in Duncanville!
