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Are Roosevelt Boulevard's Red Light Cameras Working?
POSTED: 8:42 pm EDT July 24,
2007
UPDATED: 10:32 am EDT July 25,
2007
PHILADELPHIA -- Roosevelt Boulevard stretches 15 miles long, 12 lanes wide and runs right through residential Northeast Philadelphia.For years, it has had a national reputation as one of the country's most dangerous roads. That's why the city red light cameras at some intersections to catch careless drivers.Are they working? Are drivers safer on the road? Harry Hairston and the NBC 10 Investigators hit the streets to find out.
Survey: Do you think red light cameras are effective?
"We were planning her sweet 16, which we're not going to have," said Nancy Miller, the mother of one teen killed on the roadway."You know it's hard, but I just take every day one day at a time," said Roxanne Taylor, another victim's mother.Their faces are reminders of what Roosevelt Boulevard had become -- a boulevard of broken lives shattered far too young, far too senselessly.Some lived but are now forever scarred."I feel like God definitely saved me. I should have been dead on the boulevard," said hit-and-run victim Roy Hevener.So, city officials took action. They cracked down with a high-tech approach, by installing red light cameras to catch people running red lights.The Philadelphia Parking Authority said the program has been a great success, slowing down drivers and saving lives."I think it is one of the best things that has been done to increase safety on the boulevard," said Vince Fenerty, the authority's executive director.Authority officials said the proof is in the numbers, which show a steady drop in motorists running red lights at intersections with cameras.The parking authority hopes to expand the program to use the cameras to catch drivers speeding through intersections when the lights are green.So everybody's happy, right?Not so fast. You haven't met Tom McCarey."Red light cameras don't make intersections safer. They make them more dangerous," McCarey said.He is with the National Motorists Association, which says it is a 6,000-member group representing drivers. They think the red light cameras are causing rear-end collisions."When people know there's a red light camera, they change their driving behavior and they slam on their brakes trying to avoid a ticket," McCarey said."We have not seen at Grant Avenue, nor anywhere else at this point, an increase in rear-end collisions," countered Fenerty.A federal government study of red light cameras done in seven areas across the country finds "decreased right-angle collisions and increased rear-end collisions."But experts say right-angle crashes are more likely to cause serious injury."Anyone can put two and two together and see that any one of those red light runnings could have resulted in a T-bone accident at an intersection," said Fenerty.The city reports that it has not gotten increased rear-end collisions in part because they warn drivers with signs, so they won't have to slam on their brakes as they reach the intersections.The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied some of Philadelphia's intersections with red light cameras. Their conclusion was the cameras help by deterring violators and prevent collisions."It's all about the money, and it's not just about the $100 fine. It's millions for the city and billions for insurers," McCarey said.Fenerty, on the other hand, said, "I wouldn't even want to conjecture where this gentleman is getting his information. But I would have to say, I firmly believe his information is wrong."Want to find the red light cameras near you? Click here to find them.Philadelphia Red Light Cameras:
Roosevelt Boulevard and Grant: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard & Red Lion: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard at Cottman Avenue: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Maschner Street: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Rhawn: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Welsh Road: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Southampton Road: Map
Broad Street and Oregon Avenue: Map
34th Street and Gray’s Ferry Avenue: Map
Studies On Red Light Cameras:
Insurance Institute of Highway Safety Baltimore Report on Red Light Cameras Texas Transportation Institute Study Washington Post Article on Red Light Cameras
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"We were planning her sweet 16, which we're not going to have," said Nancy Miller, the mother of one teen killed on the roadway."You know it's hard, but I just take every day one day at a time," said Roxanne Taylor, another victim's mother.Their faces are reminders of what Roosevelt Boulevard had become -- a boulevard of broken lives shattered far too young, far too senselessly.Some lived but are now forever scarred."I feel like God definitely saved me. I should have been dead on the boulevard," said hit-and-run victim Roy Hevener.So, city officials took action. They cracked down with a high-tech approach, by installing red light cameras to catch people running red lights.The Philadelphia Parking Authority said the program has been a great success, slowing down drivers and saving lives."I think it is one of the best things that has been done to increase safety on the boulevard," said Vince Fenerty, the authority's executive director.Authority officials said the proof is in the numbers, which show a steady drop in motorists running red lights at intersections with cameras.The parking authority hopes to expand the program to use the cameras to catch drivers speeding through intersections when the lights are green.So everybody's happy, right?Not so fast. You haven't met Tom McCarey."Red light cameras don't make intersections safer. They make them more dangerous," McCarey said.He is with the National Motorists Association, which says it is a 6,000-member group representing drivers. They think the red light cameras are causing rear-end collisions."When people know there's a red light camera, they change their driving behavior and they slam on their brakes trying to avoid a ticket," McCarey said."We have not seen at Grant Avenue, nor anywhere else at this point, an increase in rear-end collisions," countered Fenerty.A federal government study of red light cameras done in seven areas across the country finds "decreased right-angle collisions and increased rear-end collisions."But experts say right-angle crashes are more likely to cause serious injury."Anyone can put two and two together and see that any one of those red light runnings could have resulted in a T-bone accident at an intersection," said Fenerty.The city reports that it has not gotten increased rear-end collisions in part because they warn drivers with signs, so they won't have to slam on their brakes as they reach the intersections.The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied some of Philadelphia's intersections with red light cameras. Their conclusion was the cameras help by deterring violators and prevent collisions."It's all about the money, and it's not just about the $100 fine. It's millions for the city and billions for insurers," McCarey said.Fenerty, on the other hand, said, "I wouldn't even want to conjecture where this gentleman is getting his information. But I would have to say, I firmly believe his information is wrong."Want to find the red light cameras near you? Click here to find them.Philadelphia Red Light Cameras:
Roosevelt Boulevard and Grant: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard & Red Lion: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard at Cottman Avenue: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Maschner Street: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Rhawn: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Welsh Road: Map
Roosevelt Boulevard and Southampton Road: Map
Broad Street and Oregon Avenue: Map
34th Street and Gray’s Ferry Avenue: Map
Studies On Red Light Cameras:
Copyright 2007 by NBC10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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