Chicago intersections with red light camers show more crashes
The City of Chicago claims that the red light cameras positioned at intersections throughout the city have made intersections safer.
However, Fox Chicago News, in an exclusive report, revealed that the occurence of accidents in these intersections have increased.
After reviewing the report, Assistant Professor Rajiv Shah looked at numbers the year before the cameras were installed and after the cameras were installed. He was surprised at the results.
Based on the data, the number of accidents in the city have declined, however, the accidents at red-light cameras have increased.
"The clearest thing is the red light cameras have to changed driving behavior in any significant pattern," he said.
Brian Steele with the Chicago Department of Transportation disagrees with Shah's findings. He says the numbers are dispropotionaley high because any accident that happens within 250 fee of the traffic light is considered an intersection accident.
Steele believes that red light cameras improve driver safety. According to Steele, there has been an a 20% reduction in crashes at intersections with red light cameras.
Since the first installation of red light cameras in 2003, there have been many controversies surrounding their usefulness.
Fox news first report on YouTube earlier this year that yellow lights were shorter at intersections with red light cameras, approximately 3 seconds shorter thatn federal standards.
According to Professor Shah, the benefit from red light camers has been exaggerated.
