Red light cameras in El Paso

I still haven't seen any data regarding collision and injury rates in Houston at the intersections where red light cameras have been installed. Via PinkDome, however, I now have some information about El Paso.

The number of citations for red-light violations issued between Oct. 31 and Nov. 30 more than quadrupled compared with the count in the same period last year, El Paso Municipal Court records show.

Lilia Worrell, assistant municipal court clerk, said police issued 306 citations for red-light violations from Oct. 31, 2005, to Nov. 30, 2005. This year during the same period, police issued 1,469.

Under the municipal code, the fine for a first and second offense captured by a red-light camera is $75. The fine increases to $150 if a vehicle runs a red light three times or more in a 12-month period.

Officials were unable to say how many of the tickets have been paid.

[Sgt. Jack Matthews of the El Paso Police Department] said a review of the camera program shows that even though hundreds of motorists still aren't stopping for red lights, the camera program appears to be contributing to fewer collisions caused by red-light runners.

Police report 60 percent fewer collisions involving red-light runners at intersections with the cameras since the camera enforcement began, compared with the same period last year.

In addition, Matthews said, "For the month of November, we saw a 75 percent decrease in collisions with injuries involving red-light runners, compared to the same time last year."

It'd be nice to know what the exact numbers were - a 60% decline could mean going from 5 to 2, after all - and a one month period isn't really enough to be sufficient to draw any conclusions - I'd want at least six months' worth of data for that - but at least this is something. If the data in Houston shows a similar decline, would that change your mind about the cameras? I'd still have concerns about them, but I'd find hard to dispute their worth if we get such a result. I hope some day to know what we're getting with them.

Oh, and one more thing, since I feel sure someone would ask if I didn't mention it:

A total of 2,257 possible violations were reviewed by police and [the vendor].

[...]

Vehicles with Mexican license plates accounted for less than 1 percent of the red-light violations. The owners of vehicles with international plates cannot be cited under this program because police say their license plate information can't be tracked.

Just so you know.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 15, 2006 to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | TrackBack