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D.C. Red-Light
Cameras Fail to Reduce Accidents By Del Quentin Wilber and Derek Willis But a Washington Post analysis of crash statistics shows
that the number of accidents has gone up at intersections with the cameras. The increase is the same or worse than at traffic
signals without the devices. Three outside traffic specialists independently reviewed
the data and said they were surprised by the results. Their conclusion: The cameras do not appear to be making any difference
in preventing injuries or collisions. "The data are very clear," said Dick Raub, a traffic
consultant and a former senior researcher at The District started the camera program in 1999, and
from the beginning, officials said they were aiming to curtail red-light running and accidents. At the time, Terrance W. Gainer,
then the second-highest ranking D.C. police official, said the cameras would "get people to stop at red lights and avoid crashes.
. . . Hopefully, we'll have a few less messes to clean up." D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he remains convinced
that the devices are worthwhile. Even if the number of crashes is not going down, he said, citations for red-light running
have dropped by about 60 percent at intersections that have cameras. Ramsey said the number of accidents would be even higher
without the cameras, adding that he would like to install them at every traffic light in the city. He pointed to last year's
steep decrease in traffic fatalities -- 45 people died compared with 69 in 2003 -- as evidence that the program is working. "I'd rather have them than not have them," Ramsey said.
"They make people slow down. They reduce the number of traffic violations, and that's a good thing." City officials attribute the increase in accidents to
higher traffic volume. But that does not explain why the presence of cameras has failed to slow the rate of accidents at those
intersections, Raub and others said. The outside experts suggested that the cameras might be more useful at other locations,
and D.C. officials said they are studying the issue. The city has cameras at 45 intersections. They take photographs
of cars running red lights, generating tickets that are processed by a private contractor. Police oversee the issuance of
tickets, which carry $75 fines, and the money goes into the city's general fund -- nearly $5 million last year. The Post obtained a D.C. database generated from accident
reports filed by police. The data covered the entire city, including the 37 intersections where cameras were installed in
1999 and 2000. The
analysis shows that the number of crashes at locations with cameras more than doubled, from 365 collisions in 1998 to 755
last year. Injury and fatal crashes climbed 81 percent, from 144 such wrecks to 262. Broadside crashes, also known as right-angle
or T-bone collisions, rose 30 percent, from 81 to 106 during that time frame. Traffic specialists say broadside collisions
are especially dangerous because the sides are the most vulnerable areas of cars. The
number of crashes and injury collisions at intersections with cameras rose steadily through 2001, then dipped through 2003
before spiking again last year. The
results were similar or worse than figures at intersections that have traffic signals but no cameras. The number of overall
crashes at those 1,520 locations increased 64 percent; injury and fatal crashes rose 54 percent; and broadside collisions
rose 17 percent. Overall,
total crashes in the city rose 61 percent, from 11,333 in 1998 to 18,250 last year. Lon Anderson, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said
the data reinforce the motor club's view that the red-light effort is targeted more at generating revenue than at reducing
crashes. "They are making a heck of a lot of money, and they are picking the motorists' pockets on the pretense of safety,"
he said. Red-light cameras are used in 12 states, including The District installed its first batch of 26 cameras
in 1999. City officials added 14 the next year. Some intersections have more than one camera to cover different approaches.
All told, the cameras installed in 1999 and 2000 covered 38 intersections; a camera subsequently was removed from one of them. Ramsey said city officials put the cameras where police
noticed the most red-light running. At the start of the program, police officials said they also received advice on camera
placement from residents and from the private contractor that operated the devices. Nine more cameras were installed in July, boosting the
number of monitored intersections to 45. Most of those drivers ticketed come from outside the city. In August, for example,
less than one-fourth of the citations were issued to motorists from the District. D.C. police also operate photo-radar devices that take
pictures of speeding motorists. Because many of these cameras are mobile and used at varying times, they were not included
in The Post's review. Douglas Noble, the chief traffic engineer for the D.C.
Department of Transportation, said his office was examining crash data and plans to review the red-light camera locations.
The department collects the data from police reports and advises police about where to install the devices. Noble said that no studies have been conducted on the
District's red-light cameras in several years but that he "would not disagree" with The Post's analysis. "I don't necessarily
have an explanation" for the trends, he said. He added that he believes the severity of injury crashes
has decreased at camera locations. The city crash database does not categorize the severity of crashes. AAA and other critics have accused the city of installing
cameras in high-volume locations where they could generate thousands of tickets, regardless of how many accidents happened
there. The analysis raised questions about where police installed
the cameras. Nine intersections with cameras had two or fewer crashes annually in 1998 and 1999; seven reported no crashes
that led to injuries or fatalities during that period. Officials installed cameras at six of the 20 most crash-prone intersections
in 1998, data show. Seventeen of the 45 intersections now covered by red-light
cameras were ranked among the 50 most accident-prone locations in the District last year. Individual results at intersections vary, the analysis
shows. The camera at The number of crashes has decreased in recent years at
another busy spot, The camera at Advocates for the cameras point to research such as a
recent national study by the Federal Highway Administration that showed the number of broadside crashes dipped 25 percent
at sites with cameras. The study found that rear-end crashes rose 15 percent at camera locations. But because broadside crashes
are more dangerous and cause greater damage, the study concluded that the cameras can help reduce the costs of traffic accidents. Gang-Len Chang, a professor of civil engineering at the
Chang and the other traffic specialists said the city
should not abandon red-light cameras. Rather, they said, the mixed results indicate that D.C. officials should conduct a thorough
review of camera sites. "They definitely should look at the locations and find
where the cameras would be much more effective," said Nicholas J. Garber, a professor of civil engineering at the © 2005 The
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