According to the WaPo story linked by Glenn Reynolds, the data make it overwhelmingly clear that not only don't the cameras deter red light running, they actually increase accidents:
The Post obtained a D.C. database generated from accident reports filed by police. The data covered the entire city, including the 37 intersections where cameras were installed in 1999 and 2000.
The analysis shows that the number of crashes at locations with cameras more than doubled, from 365 collisions in 1998 to 755 last year. Injury and fatal crashes climbed 81 percent, from 144 such wrecks to 262. Broadside crashes, also known as right-angle or T-bone collisions, rose 30 percent, from 81 to 106 during that time frame. Traffic specialists say broadside collisions are especially dangerous because the sides are the most vulnerable areas of cars.
The number of crashes and injury collisions at intersections with cameras rose steadily through 2001, then dipped through 2003 before spiking again last year.
The results were similar or worse than figures at intersections that have traffic signals but no cameras. The number of overall crashes at those 1,520 locations increased 64 percent; injury and fatal crashes rose 54 percent; and broadside collisions rose 17 percent.
This really should not come as news to anyone who's studied the problem before. Glenn's had otherposts about the problem, and I've even had one, slacker though I am.
What particularly intrigued me about Jeff's radio discussion was the obvious logical anomaly in the Post's (and the DC government's) thinking: WHAT ABOUT THE DC GUN BAN? If it's clear that red light cameras increase accidents, then by the same logic, why isn't it also clear that the DC gun ban has increased crime in a place long known for being the nation's murder capital?
If public safety concerns are a reason to reexamine a failed bureaucratic scheme that causes accidents, then why not one that causes deaths?
posted by Eric on 10.04.05 at 09:59 PM
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The reason gun bans increase crime is obvious: A criminal breaking into your house at night isn't deterred by you flinging a rubber band at him -- he's deterred by you blasting a bullet at him. That hurts more.
Jeff from Alphecca had some interesting notes on the DC gun-ban. He said, "Washington D.C. has the second highest murder rate in the country. And if handguns have been banned for 25 years then I guess those 1,982 guns came from --wait for it-- criminals! You know, those folks who don't obey laws, much less gun laws. Which again, makes you ask if maybe the law abiding ought to be able to defend themselves"? - Well I don't need a gun here. Course I don't live in D.C. either!"
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
The reason gun bans increase crime is obvious: A criminal breaking into your house at night isn't deterred by you flinging a rubber band at him -- he's deterred by you blasting a bullet at him. That hurts more.