Friday, November 16, 2012

When they say it's not about the money ...

... you know that it's about the money:
— An Atlanta suburb might scrap its red light cameras, which are designed to nab motorists who run red lights.

Roswell transportation director Steven Acenbrak tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/TAxoWZ) that the number of crashes before the cameras were installed are virtually the same as after they are after the cameras were put in place.

City officials say the cameras are also losing money.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/11/12/2246492/georgia-city-considers-removing.html#storylink=cpy
I'm glad to see them go, but it's annoying that the problem wasn't that accident rates didn't change.

4 comments:

bluesun said...

A drop in Youtube videos set to Yakkity Sax will surely follow.

Dave H said...

Red light cameras have rarely been about safety. They're an income stream. (Mostly for the companies that install and operate them, some of which get a percentage of ticket, um, "sales.")

Windy Wilson said...

"the number of crashes before the cameras were installed are virtually the same as after. . ."
I sense a bit of weasel-wording here by the director. How much did they change, and in what direction.
Call me cynical, but the cameras are gone because they aren't making money for the agency, but the bad part is they were willing to "endure" a higher accident rate to get that money.

Geodkyt said...

I agree with Windy -- generally speaking, red light cameras increase accidents, as paranoid drivers lock up the brakes when the light first turns yellow, and get rear-ended.