They're all over in Montgomery, and Birmingham is considering installing them too.
Red Light Cameras....with speed cameras to follow.
They take pictures of cars that run red lights or speeding and mail the owners a ticket. Most of the money goes to the companies that provide the equipment, but the city gets a slice too.
Now an interesting experiment in California calls into question just how fair the red light cameras are, when a 7/10 of a second adjustment in the length of the yellow signal can cause a 62% drop in the tickets the machines generate.
Red Light Cameras....with speed cameras to follow.
They take pictures of cars that run red lights or speeding and mail the owners a ticket. Most of the money goes to the companies that provide the equipment, but the city gets a slice too.
I am concerned about the speeding cameras. Sometimes, for safety, one has to momentarily step on the gas to get out of a dangerous situation.
ReplyDeleteAnd the 7/10 of a second comment is spot-on.
When I am in the Vaughn Rd-Blvd area (Popeye's Chicken, Fresh Market, etc.) I go out of my way to avoid that particular intersection, if at all possible. I usually go by the Shakespeare station post office and connect up with Vaughn Rd. at the next light, avoiding those ominous cameras.
Actually 7/10's of a second will reduce redlight running by more than 62%. The intersection in Fremont in the news article also cites right turn violations. Reductions in these types of violations are fewer since they occur throughout the red phase. Straight through violations are 80% fewer. A neighboring town has increased yellow lights by 7/10's and they experience only 10% the number of violations as does Fremont, Calif.
ReplyDeleteHere is the TV news segment link:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/video-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5680705&flvUri&partnerclipid
Thanks Freemont! Nice added information.
ReplyDeleteTim
Hey Jay,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%..in fact I produced a CBS-8 story identifying it as the worst intersection in the city!