Naperville Pulls Plug On Red Light Cameras
Very quietly on January 3rd, west suburban Naperville pulled the plug on its red light camera enforcement program.
City officials voted in November not to renew the optional fourth year of the program due to a myriad of reasons according to the Daily Herald.
Several of the cameras were going to be pulled due to road construction projects, leaving a single camera at the intersection of Ogden and Aurora avenues which only produced two violations a day.
The program generated approximately $186,000 a year in revenue for Illinois’ second largest city.
Here’s the Herald’s full story, “Naperville to shut down red-light cameras.”
R.I.P.
I just read, in Newsday, a firefighter saying that the cameras (indirectly) block emergency vehicles – because car stopped at a camera intersection are afraid to move out of the way! Just one of the many side effects of the cameras.
Other side effects: Increased rearenders, local money sent to Oz, AZ or NY (Goldman-Sachs) where it won’t come back, tourists and shoppers driven away, and a false expectation of safety – something that is a big liability for those who venture into the real world.
The main reason to not install red light cameras is that they don’t stop the bad accidents, because they can’t stop the real late runners. (If cameras prevented the bad accidents, ATS wouldn’t be able to come up with the videos they’ve been sending around recently, of major accidents. Which happened at ATS-enforced intersections! )
Want actual safety, without the side effects?
To decrease car-pedestrian accidents, train your kids (and grandma) not to step into the street just ‘cuz the walk sign came on. Tell them: Look BOTH ways, and do not step out unless you have made eye contact!!!
To cut nuisance running (a fraction of a second late), lengthen the yellows. This has a huge % effect, the effect is permanent, and it can be done cheaply, thus all over town.
The dangerous real late (multiple seconds) runs occur when someone is lost, distracted or impaired. The mere presence of a camera won’t stop these runs, because the runner doesn’t know (a visitor) or doesn’t remember (a distracted or impaired “local”) that there’s a camera up ahead, and in any case isn’t doing it on purpose. The way to reduce these rare but very dangerous real late runs is to improve the visual cues that say, “Intersection ahead.” Florida’s DOT found that better pavement markings near intersections (plain old paint) cut running by up to 74% without increasing rearenders. Also, make the signal lights bigger in diameter, add backboards, and place the poles on the NEAR side of the intersection. Put brighter bulbs in the street lights at intersections. Put up lighted name signs for the cross streets.
The fact that the real world is not a nanny state like here means that we need to continue to drive, and walk, defensively. Who needs cameras and their side effects?
Speaking of unintended side effects. Now I will drive in Naperville instead of actively avoiding it.