Posted on 05/27/2013 11:11:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The federal government recommends that yellow lights at intersections last for at least three seconds before turning red. So why are so many yellows being timed at 2.5 seconds? And why are those fleeting yellows often located at intersections where red-light cameras are installed?
The mandarins tell us that red-light cameras are for our own safety, and that we need more of them than the 150 already in New York City. While we wait, city transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said last month, New Yorkers are dying on our streets.
So why increase the mayhem by cutting the duration of the yellow light by half a second? The city continues to deny that it did so, but both a Post investigation and a AAA study found intersections with cameras had yellow lights that lasted as little as 2.53 seconds, 15% less than the citys standard.
Three motorists subsequently brought a class-action suit against the city.
Other reporters around the country are finding similar situations. In Florida, WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg found that the operators of cameras had reduced yellow-light times by half a second without telling motorists. The same thing happened in 2008 in San Bernadino, Calif., whose city council then ordered the removal of the cameras. Half a million people are getting refunds in a New Jersey class action after complaining about yellow-light timing when they were ticketed.
Its unclear whether the cameras even increase safety. A 2005 Washington Post study found that the number of accidents has gone up at intersections with the cameras.
Though many studies have found that cameras reduce side impact or T-bone accidents involving cars heading at right angles to each other, the same studies also find an increase in rear-end collisions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I live on Long Island, where theyve been putting these things up all over the place.
Been driving for more than 30 years, and Ive NEVER seen so many rear-end accidents and near accidents in my life.
It is my opinion that the red-light cameras do absolutely nothing to increase safety and are merely a revenue enhancing scheme. If they REALLY wanted to increase safety, there is a much better way to do it: Increase the time between the red light in one direction and the green light in the other. Lets make it a 3-second delay. I bet that would stop 90% of the accidents at intersections.
BTW, even on traffic-strangled Long Island, Ive only very rarely seen an actual red-light runner - one who simply blasts through a red light. I HAVE seen many folks who, for one reason or another (slick road, somebody tailgating him, simple miscalculation, etc.) BARELY miss the yellow and squeak through a light which has turned red only a fraction of a second earlier.
Meanwhile, these damned cameras have everybody so jumpy that people are slamming on their brakes even on a green light, trying to guess when the light is going to change. Then, when it doesnt turn yellow when they thought it would, they speed up. When WHAMMO! the light turns yellow and they slam on their brakes all over again, causing all kinds of havoc to everyone in back of them.
Nope, I dont see the safety increase. I see $$$$$ for the town is all.
Regards,
Probably busy texting.
No human document not even the Constitution as written can be utterly sinproof. Only the Lord is, someone Who was originally present alongside the Constitution but now America has largely jettisoned Him.
Your screen name dates to 2005.
I got kicked off that year for disagreeing with Jim about first amendment rights before it was explained to me that this is Jim’s forum and not a first amendment blog. My old screen name was Red Warrior.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.