Anne Arundel County
in Maryland has been running five red light cameras for five years, during which period they raised a fat $2.85 million
in ticket revenue. Unfortunately, a comparison of accident statistics shows that the cameras have increased the rate of accidents.
Immediately
after installation, the cameras sparked a 40-percent increase in rear-end collisions, and never looked back, with
five-year increases in accident rates far exceeding a 10-percent increase in traffic.
Unfortunately, this is
hardly an isolated phenomenon. TheNewspaper.com reports
similar results in the state of Georgia, where the city of Duluth’s one and only camera is forecast to generate a
whopping $1 million next year, at the cost of a 21-percent increase in accidents. A study by the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution showed red light cameras were linked to an increase in accidents, injuries and revenues across the
state, although there is early indication that the rate of serious accidents in intersections is falling.
Critics charge that cities are at best trading one kind of accident for another, and that the proliferation of
traffic cameras is really just a money generator, while advocates maintain that they encourage safer driving.
[Sources: theNewspaper.com, The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution]