Study: Red light cameras cut fatal crashes in big cities

Red light cameras are helping drivers remember that red means stop and are saving lives, according to a new study out Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The study concludes that the cameras have reduced the rate of fatal crashes by 24 percent in 14 large cities that introduced red light cameras between 1996 and 2004.

"Red light cameras are working," said institute president Adrian Lund. "There are hundreds of people who are alive because some communities had the courage to use this method of enforcement."

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office concurs with the study. The agency has seen an overall reduction in crashes with injuries at the 10 intersections where the cameras were placed last year.

The cameras have brought the issue to the forefront and made drivers more aware that they need to stop at red lights, said sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon.

"We're not surprised with the findings," McKinnon said. "We said it was about saving lives."

In cities with the cameras, the study also noted drops in all fatal crashes at intersections with traffic signals, not just those caused by running red lights.

"We think that they are just paying more attention to intersections as they come up on them because they are more certain that if they violate the red light that they will get a ticket," Lund said.

Researchers have known for some time that the cameras reduce crashes, but there are now enough cities with cameras to study whether they affect fatal crashes, Lund said. Red light cameras can be a cheaper and safer alternative to officers enforcing red light running, he added.

But some disagree.

Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers' rights organization, disputed the institute's finding that the cameras have reduced deaths. He cited previous studies - questioned by the institute - that found that the cameras increase crashes, including rear-end collisions.

As for calling the cameras a low-cost solution, Biller added: "They're not low cost to the motorist."

Biller says less costly and more effective options include improving sight lines at intersections, lengthening yellow lights or using all-red delays in which all lights at an intersection simultaneously go red for a time.