Cities Shortening Yellow Traffic Lights for Deadly Profit

[lewisipso]

Some cities have been shortening yellow lights to nab drivers with a ticket. But studies show that they're raking in the bucks at the expense of public safety.

Reeling through a 21st century addicted to technology and surveillance, citizens may be too overwhelmed to complain of increasing cameras popping up atop red lights at intersections across the nation, most of which are designed to catch them breaking traffic laws. That is, until they're caught in those intersections as the yellow lights unexpectedly change, and cars in front and back of them hit the brakes or punch the gas to avoid tickets. And when they find out those cameras and lights are being gamed, sometimes lethally, in the pursuit of quick profit? Then they get mad, and maybe even, for being used as motorized money pits. "With all of the stories we hear on a daily basis, there is little doubt that the desire for ticket revenue trumps safety concerns," Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association told AlterNet. "A quick current example is California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who a few weeks ago proposed state budget including a proposal to add speed sensors to 500 existing red-light cameras. The reason? Safety wasn't mentioned, but an expected additional annual revenue of $338 million was."


Cities Shortening Yellow Traffic Lights for Deadly Profit | Civil Liberties | AlterNet

In a related note:


Red Light Camera Studies Roundup

[Jenna]

If they really want to make money, they should just make the lights more complicated by adding more colors to confuse drivers. Morse code could also be fun.

[Odd]

"Hey Ray, how can we fill these budget gaps?"

"We could put up red light cameras and toy with the timings"

"Brilliant. Say, what blew out the budget in the first place?"

"Public health and safety programs"

[countybear]

So, am I to believe that a government program, pitched to the people as a means to improve their wellbeing, is being administered so as to be self-serving, and is actually defeating its own stated purpose?

10-point bonus for anyone who can name other government programs where this has happened...

... and now they want control of healthcare too.

[Xiphos]

10-point bonus for anyone who can name other government programs where this has happened...

All of them?

[cajunguy]

All of them?

If we did that, the forum would probably lock up due to bandwidth overload.



.

[Car 4]

The National Model Traffic Safety Ordinance is the law for cities, counties and states taking federal money. According to it, yellow lights must be 3 seconds long.

If they are spoofing the lights, somebody may get sued.


Car 4

[MacLean]

The National Model Traffic Safety Ordinance is the law for cities, counties and states taking federal money. According to it, yellow lights must be 3 seconds long.

If they are spoofing the lights, somebody may get sued.


Car 4

The problem is the NHTSA study was flubbed. There is a math guy who pointed out that the NHTSA timing was the result of a math error, and the light should be four seconds on average. The math formula is here, but I'm not a math whiz.

http://redlightrobber.com/red/docs/Derivation.pdf

That was combined with a study that showed a four second yellow reduced accidents.

ATS, the company that makes millions from the cameras, has refused to acknowledge that the short light is the issue, because it would reduce their revenue.

Cities (like mine) pay ATS for the pleasure of having the cameras - thousands per month.

If the revenue from the camera goes down, the city cannot afford the camera.

[jmur5074]

I'm so glad we don't have that shit here.