You wince as you watch it happen.
A dark-colored car heading west on Bullard Parkway runs the red light at the 56th Street intersection and is smashed by a vehicle with the right-of-way.
And it’s all caught on camera.
The City of Temple Terrace worked with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to install the camera at the intersection. It’s one of five such cameras operational in Temple Terrace.
Now, the crash from November is the first of several 2012 red-light accidents in Florida featured in an ATS YouTube video.
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ATS has cameras in more than 70 Florida communities, and it says a decrease in traffic crashes is the most common trend once cameras are installed. In a press release, the company cites a new report from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to show “the effectiveness of red-light safety cameras as a viable police tool for the enforcement of traffic laws and reduction of dangerous crashes.”
Counties and municipalities in Florida who use red-light cameras submitted intersection data from July 2011 to June 2012 for the report.
“The clear majority of reporting agencies showed total crashes, angle-crashes and rear-end crashes all decreased in number from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012,” the ATS release states.
What do you think, Temple Terrace? Have you changed your driving behavior because red-light cameras are in place around the community? Are you for or against the cameras?
See also:
Red Light Camera Captures Crash
Red Light Cameras: Legal or Unconstitutional?
Temple Terrace Adds Three New Red-Light Cameras
I'm not comforted by claims that crashes are down. Frankly, none of us should blindly bet our life on studies from either side, just because the studies are numerous or are claimed to be independent. My inclination is to believe what I hear from the local official who, after 5 or more years of hands-on experience with the cameras, sees through the scam and chooses to speak out. For direct quotes from officials (police chiefs, mayors) admitting that cameras don't work, go here http://highwayrobbery.net/redlightcamsdocsIndustryPRMain.html#Candor Or, if the above link is missing or does not work, Google the names Mussenden Rhodes Weldon Medrano Fitton and scroll down to the box entitled "Extraordinary Candor by Officials."
The very first crash shown the light had been red for at least 5 seconds. The driver was either inattentive or impaired. If they cannot see a couple of big red lights in front of them, how is it an automated device on a pole will magically prevent these crashes? They won't, but our local officials as well as the for-profit companies are for the most part raking in millions on this scheme, so it's not likely to go away unless enough people do something about it. Automated for-profit law enforcement is a bad idea, and it is un-American. Support the 2013 Florida Motorist Rights Restoration Act.