Quote:
Originally Posted by Infiniti514
There is an intersection here in Northeast Philly that was named America's most dangerous intersection. So the city set up a trial run at this intersection with these cameras. They would catch people going through the red light but wouldn't ticket anyone yet at first. I guess to see how effective and how well they work. But eventually they started to ticket people and of course the number of people getting a ticket was high at first, but it slowly declined. Since they were put up, the cameras have been effective in reducing the number of vehicle and pedestrian accidents at this intersection. So there is some hard proof that it works.
|
This may be the case. However were any of the signal timings changed to address the root cause? For example the optimal timing for intersections should not run more than 90 seconds through the entire cycle. In high volume intersections often politicians place pressure on DOT's to modify signal timing with the feeling that longer lights mean more vehicle flow..........wrong. By reducing timing on the lights you move cars slower, however with the reduced speeds you are able to get more total cars through since the spacing between vehicles are reduced. You can only run red lights at speed in that intersection if vehicle spacing is large. I feel that given your explanation that cars are running reds at speed that the signalization is probably really messed up. The overall signalization in the area should be adjusted to allow for good through bands for vehicles.
By having poor setup it is
encouraging persons to run the light since they know they will need to sit for 5 minutes before their next light comes around.
I know it's counterintuitive, but it is human nature and in most cases the trend is as described above.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Infiniti514
You only start worrying about shit like this if you believe you might be doing something wrong. For instance, when you are speeding, you get that little bit of anxiety because you know its wrong and if you get caught, you'll pay the price. So if you are worrying about these cameras, it seems to me that you are worrying a lot because you might be in the situation where you go through a red light and be caught. If you don't put yourself in that kind of situation, then you have nothing to worry about with these cameras.
|
Incorrect. I know full well how idiotic politicians are. Mind you this is politically based. Ask an engineer and they can tell you that there are other traffic calming things to do, such as speed humps or turnabouts. No one has sufficiently explained how cameras will fully exhonorate persons who have extenuating circumstances. Again what if you need to get through the intersection because of an ambulance? The ticket shows up weeks after the fact, how can you get cleared?
What about equal attention paid to jaywalkers? How will you ticket them? They are 50% of the problem. Why are vehicles targeted more so than pedestrians. Now mind you we don't have city blocks like you guys. Down here we have so many traffic lights and so many crosswalks there is no excuse not to use them, but the cars are targeted. It is an unequal application of the law.