Skip to main content

Study finds red-light cameras reduce crashes

A study carried out by Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Department of Public Works shows drops in both traffic crashes and violations at selected intersections in the five years since the city launched a traffic light camera program. The study evaluated intersections where traffic cameras were installed in 2008 and 2009 by comparing the average number of crashes in the years before and after the cameras took effect, and showed a sharp decline in right-angle crashes - considered the most dangerous type of collisions
July 3, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A study carried out by Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Department of Public Works shows drops in both traffic crashes and violations at selected intersections in the five years since the city launched a traffic light camera program.

The study evaluated intersections where traffic cameras were installed in 2008 and 2009 by comparing the average number of crashes in the years before and after the cameras took effect, and showed a sharp decline in right-angle crashes - considered the most dangerous type of collisions - but also showed slight increases in rear-end crashes.

There was an average of 69 right-angle crashes in total at intersections in 2006 and 2007; when cameras were installed in 2008, right-angle crashes at those locations dropped to a combined average of 41 per year for the years 2009 through 2011, or a decline of 40 per cent.

In the same time frame, rear-end collisions for the designated intersections increased by 4 percent and total injuries for all collisions dropped 15 per cent.

Of 19 intersections that still have traffic cameras, 13 showed reductions in traffic light violations between the first year they were installed and 2012, according to data provided by 17 American Traffic Solutions, the company overseeing the city-parish camera program.

Related Content

  • December 16, 2014
    Survey – Americans support red light cameras
    The long arm of the law these days is often in the form of a robotic camera that captures motorists who run red lights. But the cameras are not always popular. New Jersey is scheduled to discontinue use of red light cameras on 16 December, and several other cities and states are considering similar moves. Despite the controversy, a majority of Americans back the use of red light cameras, according to a new survey from FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information website. The FindLaw.com survey foun
  • January 20, 2012
    Adaptive control reduces travel time, cuts congestion
    Situated in San Diego County, California, the growing city of San Marcos has seen its population increase by 53.5 per cent since the turn of the century. Although this dramatic population increase has spurred economic growth bringing new business, homes and opportunities to the city, it has also increased traffic congestion along its central corridor, San Marcos Boulevard. This became the most congested arterial in the city, and, by 2006, the second-most travelled corridor in San Diego County.
  • June 2, 2015
    Study finds rumble strips save lives on rural highways
    A recently completed study shows that rumble strips are proving to be an effective and low-cost way to reduce crashes on Michigan's state highways. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) started a major rumble strip program for two-lane high-speed rural highways in 2008. Centre-line and shoulder rumble strips were installed on all MDOT rural, non-freeway highways with posted speed limits of 55 mph and appropriate paved lane and shoulder widths. To date, 5,700 miles of centre-line rumble strips
  • July 11, 2016
    Nine in 10 people want tougher sentences for drivers who kill
    A study to mark the launch of Brake’s new Roads to Justice Campaign shows there is huge support for strengthening both the charges and sentences faced by criminal drivers. Ninety-one per cent of people questioned agreed that if someone causes a fatal crash when they get behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs, they should be charged with manslaughter. That carries a possible life sentence. At present people can either be charged with causing death by dangerous driving or causing death by careless