Red light cameras catching drivers speeding through lights when they aren’t supposed to are reducing the number of fatal car accidents, according to a new study.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study, red light cameras are helping drivers remember to stop, reducing the rate of fatal car accidents by 24 percent in 14 large cities that introduced red light cameras between 1996 and 2004, according to news reports .
“Red light cameras are working,” said institute President Adrian Lund to news reports. “There are hundreds of people who are alive because some communities had the courage to use this method of enforcement.”
Some, however, aren’t so sure red light cameras are best action. Opponents say the red light cameras are costly to motorists, and a more effective way of reducing accidents at intersections would be to “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.”
As a North Charleston personal injury lawyer , I’ve seen some of the intersections with red light cameras. I think drivers do pay more attention near those intersections because they don’t want a ticket. I urge drivers to be responsible all the time, not just when there are ticket cameras or police officers nearby. Responsible driving is the only way to reduce car accidents.
If you have been injured in a car accident, contact a personal injury lawyer in North Charleston .