Galveston car accident lawyers understand that red light cameras have their ardent fans and their detractors. Among the fans are government revenue collectors, some insurers, and some safety advocates. Supporters of the red light cameras believe that the certainty of receiving a fine for running a red light helps deter the practice and save lives.
The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) advocates use of the red light cameras at intersections to help prevent accidents caused by red light runners. The IIHS has collected extensive amounts of data to support its views. But our Galveston car accident lawyers recognize that some safety experts maintain that their use of the data is both flawed and biased.
Yet the IIHS states the numbers of crashes, particularly crashes resulting in injury, have decreased dramatically where red light cameras and the certainty of fines are present. For instance, in Oxnard, California, which had red light cameras installed back in 1997, the IIHS says that the city has experienced a 29% decrease in the number of traffic accidents.
According to the IIHS, the decrease includes a startling 68% reduction in “front-to-side” accidents (impacts where one vehicle plows into the side of another at an intersection) resulting in injury. The IIHS points out that these dramatic results occurred even though only 11 of Oxnard’s 125 intersections come equipped with the red light cameras. To our Galveston car accident lawyers, the implication seems to be that the threat of the cameras and the fines serves as an extremely strong influence on modifying drivers’ red light running behaviors.
In another argument to support the strong impact of red light cameras in preventing injury accidents, the IIHS compares accident statistics in 14 cities. The IIHS study uses data from between 1992 to 1996, when these 14 cities did not have red light cameras, and from 2004 to 2008, when they did have the cameras. The IIHS points to a 35% decrease in the 14 cities in fatal red light running crashes during the latter period. By comparison, fatal crash rates fell 14% overall during that period.
IIHS indicates that the substantial difference between the two statistics should be associated with the positive influence of the red light cameras. The IIHS attributes a 24% decrease in fatal red light crashes to the cameras and 159 lives saved. The IIHS also says that 89% of drivers that are aware of red light cameras favor their use. (This is the IIHS data point that this writer personally finds most questionable. I have yet to meet anyone who really wants to be subject to the cameras. I’m not sufficiently convinced of the safety benefits to believe they outweigh the costs and inconveniences posed by the devices.)
Our Galveston car accident lawyers note that Texas is one of 24 states that currently allow the use of red light cameras. Whether or not the data really supports the IIHS viewpoint, there’s no denying that most of us will take more approaching and driving through intersections we know to be equipped with a red light camera.
Cities that use the cameras don’t provide any means for disputing a red light camera ticket. So if you end up on camera, you either have to pay the fine or risk a warrant catching up with you later. Red light cameras do influence driver behavior. But some experts say that this influence actually causes more wrecks as drivers suddenly take note of the cameras and come to abrupt halts from high speeds. Read about the opposing view on red light cameras in our Galveston car accident lawyers’ other article.