When Traffic Cameras Kill (Or at Least Maim)

A while back, Reason's Kerry Howley wrote up how the D.C. police figured that increased crashes at intersections patrolled by surveillance cameras was a sign the policy was working (come on, think about it for a minute and then…never mind).

Now Ryan Posly hips us to two instances where the DC logic is catching on. First up is Ft. Collins, Colorado, where the surveillance cameras have increased crashes (another victory for the people!). The powers-that-be wisely added an extra second to the yellow light stage of the traffic signal, which fixed one problem but possibly caused another: a decrease in fines as well as crashes.

The city added one second of yellow time to the camera-monitored movements of the intersection to see if it would improve safety. Both accidents and red light citations dropped by more than half comparing the most recent month's data to the same time last year. Daily ticket revenue also plunged from $3000 to $1125, giving officials cause to delay voting on a new camera to see if revenue will rebound.

More, including a police chief who avers the cameras have never been about $$$, here.

And then there's this interesting tale from the Yellow Fever city of Philadelphia, where the camera-caused accidents have been compounded by good old human error. On top of a 10 percent to 20 percent increase in wrecks come these sorts of automated tales of woe:

[One driver] explains he hasn't been to that intersection in a decade, his car was in the garage at the time and that his 1990 Audi Coupe Quattro is red. The car in the photo, whose license plate is not completely readable, is black.

"This is pure human error," [a Philadelphia Parking Authority spokesman] explained, after admitting that the ticket was improperly issued.

Whole thing here.