Success Stories
The material in this section is derived from personal conversations, reports, articles and other sources. They are provided for illustration only and are therefore not fully referenced. Users are directed to the reports and articles section to find fully documented results information.
Results: Crashes
New York City: At one red light camera installation it has been found in a before-after analysis that angled crashes have decreased by 60 to 70 percent after installation of the camera. Though the number of angle crashes has decreased, there has been an increase in less severe rear-end collisions in the same time frame. Total crashes are down. Considering all sites, rear end accidents held steady at most signals and increased at some.
Howard County, MD: Crash reductions noted at two installations. Reduction effectiveness correlates with ADT growth at intersections (as documented in a British study).
- At slow growth intersection -- Little Patuxent Parkway @ Columbia Road -- 2.4 percent annual growth, RLR accidents went from 15 in 1997 to 8 in 1998.
- At high growth intersection -- Broken Land Parkway @ Stevens Rorest Road -- 5.2 percent annual growth, RLR accidents went from 20 in 1997 to 18 in 1998.
Oxnard, CA: After one year, 22 percent reduction in RLR accidents citywide, though no effort as of this reporting to monitor accidents at the camera locations only.
San Francisco, CA: Notable impact of red light camera pilot program may be a citywide reduction in collisions and injuries caused by red light violators. Although statistically it is too early to conclude that efforts to reduce red light running in San Francisco are responsible for this reduction, the future looks promising. Comparing data from the previous five years, there was a 9 percent reduction in injury collisions caused by red light violators in 1997. (See Table)
| Year | Injury Collisions | Fatalities | Total Injured |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 780 | 3 | 1367 |
| 1993 | 779 | 5 | 1320 |
| 1994 | 781 | 4 | 1293 |
| 1995 | 809 | 4 | 1343 |
| 1996 | 780 | 5 | 1297 |
| 5 Year Average | 786 | 4 | 1324 |
| 1997 | 724 | 1 | 1198 |
| (*) Department of California Highway Patrol, State Wide Integrated Traffic Records System | |||
Fairfax, VA: Cameras at nine intersections produced a 7 percent reduction in violations after 3 months and a 44 percent reduction after 1 year.
International: South Australia - 10.4 percent reduction in fatalities and 24 percent reduction in injury crashes. Victoria, Australia - Right angle accidents decreased by 32 percent, right angle turning accidents decreased by 25 percent, rear end crashes decreased by 30.8 percent and rear end turnign accidents increased by 28.2 percent.
Results: Violations
Howard County, MD: At the two original locations, 18 months' experience with warning letters resulted in violation drops of 21 percent and 25 percent. After 6 months of citations, violations dropped an additional 50 percent and 42 percent a final drop of 60 percent and 56 percent of original level. Experience indicates huge entering volumes at these two intersections -- both intersections have >40,000 ADT on major road and >2000 PHF. Population along most consumer corridors changes 7-9% per year, so it is always necessary to educate new motorists to the law.
Minnesota: Experimental engineering project using flashing lights at advance signal sign on rural expressway. Testing done 53.4 days before, 53.4 days after - no grace period. Number of violations dropped by: 29 percent for all vehicles (749-512) and 63 percent for trucks (203 - 76). Number of violators dropped in following delay categories: 0-0.5, 0.5-1.0, 1.0-1.5, 1.5-2.0
New York City: Cameras went on line in 1994. 50 percent of pictures ended up as citations. There has been a 34 percent reduction in violations, using data from the 18 cameras:
1994 178,328 violations ------> 27/ day / intersection
1995 146, 812
1996 140, 751
1997 116, 402 ------> 17.6/ day / intersection
Oxnard, CA: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recorded a 42 percent reduction in red light violations. The Oxnard study included locations not equipped with cameras and found that there was a "spill over" effect at these locations as well.
San Francisco, CA: Since October 1996, the pilot red light photo enforcement program has issued nearly 10,000 citations. San Francisco Municipal Court records indicate that violators pay these citations at rates comparable to citations issued by police officers in the field (approximately two-thirds paid). The first six months of the pilot project showed that the number of red light runners at photo enforced intersections dropped more than 42 percent.
International: United Kingdom - 55 percent decline in violations. Singapore - 40 percent decline. Victoria, Australia - 32 percent reduction in violations.
