Skip to main content

Decrease in Florida’s red-light running crashes

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' (DHSMV) recently-released third annual Red-Light Camera Summary Report analysed data from 68 police agencies in the cities and towns in Florida where red-light safety cameras are deployed. The report shows a decrease in red-light running violations and crashes at intersections with red-light safety cameras and is consistent with results from previous state reports affirming the effectiveness of this important law enforcement tool. Total violations
January 6, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' (DHSMV) recently-released third annual Red-Light Camera Summary Report analysed data from 68 police agencies in the cities and towns in Florida where red-light safety cameras are deployed. The report shows a decrease in red-light running violations and crashes at intersections with red-light safety cameras and is consistent with results from previous state reports affirming the effectiveness of this important law enforcement tool. Total violations decreased 14 percent from the 2013 study.

Out of the total 68 cities with red light cameras, 52 listed an improvement in driving behaviour, public awareness, reduction in reoffending, reduction in number of violations issued, severity of crashes, reduction in crashes, and/or increases in driver and pedestrian safety as specific additional results of the red light camera program.

Out of 23 cities that listed additional factors the jurisdiction felt most important to consider when selecting an intersection for red light cameras, 54 percent listed public safety-related factors, including the number of fatal crashes and hit and runs occurring at the intersection as well as pedestrian safety concerns.

Results in the DHSMV mirror those found in the 2014 Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) analysis that reported a 49 per cent decrease in fatal crashes at red-light safety camera intersections on state roads saving an estimated 18 lives. A separate analysis released in December 2013 by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, an office of the 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, shows red-light running fatalities decreased 27 per cent in Florida, from 83 fatalities in 2011 to 61 in 2012, outpacing the nation's five per cent decrease. Every averted traffic fatality involves an economic savings. The estimated cost to each community for a single traffic fatality is estimated to be in the millions, according to cost components selected by the 831 Federal Highway Administration.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK ‘headed for gridlock’ as new record car use revealed
    May 20, 2016
    UK Road safety charity Brake is concerned by worrying new figures showing car traffic reached a new peak in 2015, with overall traffic increasing by almost 19 per cent since 1995. According to UK government statistics, the number of vehicle miles travelled grew by 1.1 per cent in 2015, to 247.7 billion, slightly higher than the previous peak in 2007. Van traffic has continued to grow more quickly than any other vehicle type, rising 4.2 per cent from 2014 levels. Lorry traffic saw the largest year-on-year
  • Auto-braking cars: government should meet motorists halfway
    March 25, 2014
    A UK Government incentive for drivers buying cars with anti-crash technology would save 60 lives and result in 760 fewer serious casualties reported to the police, in just three years. Over ten years, such an incentive would save 1,220 lives and nearly 136,000 casualties, according to Thatcham Research, the insurance industry’s automotive research centre. At a briefing seeking support from senior politicians, health organisations, insurers and vehicle manufacturers at the House of Commons today, Peter S
  • New York pedestrian safety plans launched
    February 27, 2015
    New York Department of Transportation (DOT), in partnership with the New York Police Department (NYPD), has launched Borough Pedestrian Safety Action Plans for each of the five boroughs in the city. The plans are one of 63 Vision Zero initiatives aimed at eliminating all deaths from traffic crashes, regardless of whether on foot, bicycle, or inside a motor vehicle. Despite aggressive pedestrian-oriented street re-engineering between 2007 and 2013, citywide pedestrian fatalities have not declined. In fact, t
  • Making cars safer for vulnerable road users
    June 2, 2016
    Richard Cuerden considers measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users. The competitive nature of the car market has seen an increase in protection for those travelling inside the vehicle and this is reflected in the casualty statistics -but the same does not apply to those outside the vehicle. And with current societal trends such as ageing populations, an increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists encouraged by environmental policies, this is an area that authorities such as the European Uni