You know those ubiquitous red-light cameras in DC? Well, they’re good at two things: 1) they turn a hell of a profit, and 2) they erode our civil liberties (Hello? Fourth Amendment?). But despite what the DC gubment says, they absoultely do not prevent accidents.
WaPo:
The District’s red-light cameras have generated more than 500,000 violations and $32 million in fines over the past six years. City officials credit them with making busy roads safer.
But a Washington Post analysis of crash statistics shows that the number of accidents has gone up at intersections with the cameras. The increase is the same or worse than at traffic signals without the devices.
Three outside traffic specialists independently reviewed the data and said they were surprised by the results. Their conclusion: The cameras do not appear to be making any difference in preventing injuries or collisions.“The data are very clear,” said Dick Raub, a traffic consultant and a former senior researcher at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. “They are not performing any better than intersections without cameras.”
(Indignant emphasis mine.)
