Rear-end crashes go up after red-light cameras go in.

Car and Driver ^ | September 2002

[RightWhale]

even with increase in rear-end accidents.

Here's the deal. Tailgate; somebody actually stops at a stopsign or a red light; incident.

Tailgating, --following at an unsafe distance,-- is a moving violation worth some points and a fine. If one person doesn't follow the rules the system is weakened by that much. If a lot of people don't follow the rules, loss of freedom for all will result.

[Let's Roll]

Yes - it is horrible - because the offender is usually hauling. The police said the only reason my neighbor wasn't killed when she was broadsided by a red light runner was because he hit her on the passenger's side. I have also sat at a green light in Dallas and counted nine cars continuing to turn left from the street on my left.- i.e. as my light was green and I was going to be crossing through the intersection which they were continuing to occupy, I think they were running the red. Something about two objects trying to occupy the same space simultaneously etc.

[elbucko]

little guy is in a full-blown sprint! hilarious walking home late at night in your cups!

LOL. I'll drink to that! (do they have Guinness in Taiwan?)

There are a lot of better ways to control traffic than our system. The most important part being safety. I think revenue from traffic citations is abuse of police powers of government. If you have the power to prove the act, you have proved you have the power to prevent the same act.

[aShepard]

Otherwise, you are simply replaced one yellow phase with three phases that are supposed to accomplish the same thing

Yeah, but with enough warning, you can floor the accelerator on the blinking green and make it through! LOL

[tomkat]

"Serve and protect" has become "Observe and Collect"

? Quote of the Day ?

[mhking]

the nation's No. 1 cheerleader for red-light cameras admits there might be one teensy-weensy downside to the program,

Oops!

[elbucko]

In an urban setting, what does a driver gain

Beats me! Seriously, I would have to ponder your question. But the system works extraordinarily well. The streets are shorter in the UK, so you don't tend to see lights blocks away. The best answer I can give is it seems like every driver, even the "little 'Ol Ladies" are on the "same page" as far as traffic is concerned. BTW, the Brits are much better drivers than us Yanks.

[elbucko]

"Serve and protect" has become "Observe and Collect"

Gets my vote as QOTD!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Brits are much better drivers than us Yanks.

I will disagree with that, 100 percent.

[Joee]

All I can say is "they came to Hawaii and were known as the SCAM CAMS. The populous left it up to the politicians, "get rid of them or get out of office." Needless to say, they ( the SCAM CAMS) ain't no mo.

[elbucko]

I will disagree with that, 100 percent.

I agree!

[Rebelbase]

Thanks!

[wcbtinman]

"Tell it to the judge,...

Situation: Driving a tractor-trailer and leaving a good following distance. (about 3 truck lengths) Going about 45 MPH and as I approach the intersection, the light turns yellow and suddenly 2 cars move from the center lane into the gap I left in front of me. Because these morons filled up my stopping space, I managed to demolish those two cars, by rear-ending them.

After explaining the physics of trying to stop 80,000lbs going 45 mph, the judge stated that the two cars were guilty of failure to yield the right of way. It's not always your fault.

Case dismissed.

[Dark Knight]

If the cams are really turning t-bones into rear enders, that is a very positive thing for the car occupants. Side impacts are nasty for everyone inside the cab. Using a boxing example, hardly any good boxer goes down from a front hit, but when you see his flip to the side, you can tell he is going down, even before the knees buckle.

Keeping the data secret is a different story. That is the single most offensive part of government, and usually the first indication that they are doing something wrong. These are not war plans, or anything remotely needing secrecy. It is traffic control for goodness sake.

DK

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

In the UK,

as you approach a green and its time to go to yellow approaches, the green begins to flash.

Next comes yellow, and it too, flashes as it is going to go to red.

It is remarkably simple and . . . really works.

I like the sound of this, a lot. De facto, it's a longer yellow, giving you a better clue-in to clear the intersection one way or the other. And I do think some would speed up; they do it on yellow as it is now. But I also think some would just use the heads-up to come to a smooth stop.

If the heads-up were delivered too soon that would cause the speedup, whereas a brief extension of the yellow with the flasher might increase a driver's willingness to stop in preference to facing the crisis of deciding whether to panic-stop or "run it pink".

Whether it's cameras or GPS, eventually technology will tell us who was at fault in accidents--and reduce the hazzard of collision in the process. I just hope that when we are required to have a "black box" in our car like the airliners have, that the politicians who vote for driver harassment are forced to make their black-box data public along with their income tax records.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Ah, the NMA...the Free Republic of the motoring world. Great advocacy group.

[Cacique]

No problem, my next personal transportation device for the coming age of calamities will take care of all problems, including lack of parking spaces and possible rear end collisions.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Now, c'mon...with the delays in signal changes and peoples reaction times, you are talking about running a red light by more than a few seconds. These are the six sigma cases, not the norm, and also the ones in need of stiffer penalties. Cameras aren't going to cut it. So, as with everything, the net is widened to capture tons of borderline cases and even innocents with the advent of too-short yellow lights.

I'm very surprised how many FReepers are totally out to lunch on this issue.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

In the UK, as you approach a green and its time to go to yellow approaches, the green begins to flash. Next comes yellow, and it too, flashes as it is going to go to red. It is remarkably simple and I wonder why the US hasn't gone to this like we have everything else British, except this really works.

Because our systems are, as many others have noted, in place to generate revenue and obsolete ideas such as traffic engineering and common sense are sacrificed at this altar. Our traffic engineers may be smart but they are lead by totally incompetent idiots.

Traffic mgmt is one thing that Europe tends to do well compared to the US.

[stlrocket]

Actually, I think this guy has the right attitude about the cameras.

MAKE SURE YOU COVER UP THE LICENSE PLATE