Skip to main content

City achieves zero fatality 25-year milestone

For the first time in 25 years, no deaths occurred as the result of a traffic crash in Jackson, Tennessee, the city announced at a news conference yesterday.
February 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

For the first time in 25 years, no deaths occurred as the result of a traffic crash in Jackson, Tennessee, the city announced at a news conference yesterday. In 2006, the year the Jackson Police Department began using 17 American Traffic Solutions’ (ATS) technology-based systems to enforce traffic laws, 12 people were killed. In 2007 the number was reduced by half to six and halved again to three in 2008. Last year there were no fatalities due to traffic collisions.

According to Police Chief, Gill Kendrick, “The Jackson Police Department would like very much to offer both thanks and congratulations to the people of Jackson on this accomplishment. Certainly the red-light cameras and the speed van are not entirely responsible for the decrease. It takes the support of Judge Blake Anderson, who has made safer roadways a priority at City Court. It takes the work done by the engineering department, which has made improvements to roadways that enhance safety. Mostly, it takes the efforts of drivers to be more cognisant of safety each and every time they get in a vehicle.”

Kendrick continued, “People sometimes criticise the red-light cameras and speed van. Please keep in mind that we are not asking citizens to do anything new. We are just asking citizens to stop at red lights and obey the speed limit. Those who simply obey the traffic laws will never participate in the photo safety programme. To ensure the safety of the citizens of Jackson, the officers of the Jackson Police Department will continue their intensive efforts to remove impaired drivers from the roadways. Because speeding, running red lights and non-compliance with the safety belt and child restraint laws place people in danger, these laws will continue to be vigorously enforced as well.”

ATS has been serving the City of Jackson with intersection safety cameras since July 2006. The speed van was added in September 2009. Red-light cameras are located at four intersections in the city while the van deploys at different locations throughout the city to discourage drivers from speeding.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cross-border enforcement close to becoming a reality
    February 2, 2012
    TISPOL Director Ad Hellemons offers the organisation's perspective on the issue of cross-border enforcement of traffic penalties, the progress that has been made and the potential hurdles yet to be overcome
  • Esri maps cause and effect
    September 26, 2024
    The work of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center means engineers can concentrate on developing more effective safety measures, rather than having to sort out raw crash data
  • Lack of progress in reducing drink-drive deaths has gone on too long says IAM RoadSmart
    February 3, 2017
    The UK’s independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has expressed disappointment in yet another year of no significant change in the levels of drink-driving in Britain, based on new Government statistics just announced. The Department for Transport announced that provisional estimates for 2015 show 220 deaths in alcohol related crashes. Some 1,380 people were killed or seriously injured when at least one driver was over the limit. This represents a statistically significant rise from 1,310 in 2014. In
  • Pittsburgh reveals pedestrian crash rates 
    July 20, 2021
    Nearly 90% of crashes occurred within 500 feet of a transit stop, says startling new report