Ever wonder how many many people run that red light at Northeast 80th Street and Fifth Avenue Northeast? The one with the red light camera?
The answer, according to the city: Only about two a day.
Since the camera was installed in February 2009, it has generated 1,086 citations through the middle of June, said Mike Quinn, Traffic Safety Camera program manager for the Seattle Police Department.
“This is the equivalent of 68 per month (16 per week) at NE 80th & 5th NE,” Quinn said in an e-mail.
That seems low, considering the camera is on a major arterial just off Interstate 5. The camera on the same street but the west side of the city, at Northwest 80th and 15th Avenue Northwest, does four times as much business. It resulted in 4,548 citations over the same time frame, Quinn said.
“It is always difficult to say why there are differences between intersections, given that many factors could be involved. In this comparison, traffic volumes – several times higher on 15th Avenue NW – are probably responsible for much of the difference,” he said.
The red light camera program is controversial, with two class-action lawsuits filed against them, according to our new partners The Seattle Times. Among other things, critics argue that the $124 ticket Seattle issues for a violation caught by the camera is many times more than the state Legislature intended when it passed the 2005 law that permits the cameras.
Earlier this week Mukilteo reversed its decision to install traffic cameras after Tim Eyman filed an initiative to stop them.
Seattle and other cities argue that the cameras make intersections safer, and Quinn says he has the statistics to prove it. “The cameras are clearly having the intended effect of reducing the frequency of red light running at these intersections.”
From the first three full months of operation (March-May) in 2009 to the same three-month period in 2010, red-light running dropped by 16 percent in Maple Leaf, from 202 to 167, Quinn said. At the camera over on the west side, it dropped by 35 percent.
You can learn more about Seattle’s traffic cameras here and here.
Curious about the equipment? Go to the website of the Arizona – yes, Arizona – company that provides the service. Here’s a part of what it says about the equipment we have:
A single Axsis™ RLC-300 Intersection Safety Camera captures two high-resolution images from the rear of the vehicle using our 16 megapixel camera. The first image shows the vehicle with the front wheels behind the stop bar and the illuminated red light, and the second image shows the vehicle in the intersection with the rear wheels past the stop bar and an illuminated red light. These two images contain all the information needed to prosecute a red-light violation, including a clear image of the license plate, extracted from one of the actual violation images.”
Actually in my opinion the red light cameras may make things a bit more dangerous. It’s been commented on to me by several people that they speed up if the light begins to change to ensure they don’t get photographed! Meaning faster speeds going through the intersection. I’ve noticed this attitude in myself also. And I don’t “run” red lights – it’s just that when it turns yellow and you’re in that point of no return zone…
How have traffic accident rates changed at intersections with cameras? This article hints at the cause, but doesn’t provide this information to help balance the cost/benefit discussion. Does it prevent 1 or 2 fender benders? A couple of crippling impacts? A fatality? I don’t know. And a balanced article would provide these kinds of statistics.
As a recipient of one of those traffic fines I am
not impressed at how the timing of the street light duration changes. I received an infraction at 530am on 15th the light turned yellow and I was real close to the intersection and couldn’t stop in time, while going the posted 30mph speed limit. The light went to red so fast it seemed like a trap. I feel that the yellow is to quick to turn red and the camera is there to cash in on anybody who takes makes a bad judgment call.
Yes, you’re right. I’ve fixed it. (Apparently my fingers just write “Northeast”)
You mean “15th Avenue Northwest” here:
The camera on the same street but the west side of the city, at Northwest 80th and 15th Avenue Northeast, does four times as much business.
I’m with you Donna. The flash freaks me out every time. I have to wonder if it’s really worth the expense, annoying camera flash, and Big Brother feel for one driver a day.
A reduction in the number of vehicles running the red lgiht per se does not translate into improved safety – however a reduction in the number of injuries and accidents in proportion to any increase/decrease in traffic is an accurate indicator of improved safety. Are those numbers available? Also, traffic safety is something you learn from an officer or judge lecturing you, not by an anonymous fine via the mail. There are people who can well afford this fine, excessive as it is, who will never learn, short of being given a stern lecture face-to-face with a person of authority or required dirver safety course and/or license revocaiton. There is no safety lesson learned from an anonymous ticket.
I reeeeaaaaallllyyy dislike these cameras. AT least I dislike their flash. While I’ve never had one flash as me, they scare the dickens out of my when they go off on someone close by.
Comparing 80th and 5th NE with 80th and 15th NW is apples and oranges. Sure, both may have cameras, but 15th NW is a much bigger, busier road with 3(ish… strange parking/no-parking bits) lanes each way. It only stands to reason it would generate more runners.
If I’ve noticed anything about the red light cameras, it’s the seemly random times they flash, supposedly taking a photo. I’ve not spent much time gazing at 80th and 5th’s setup, but the cameras at 45th and Stone and some on Capitol Hill seem to fire at random, even when people are driving through a green light or no one is in the intersection. It makes me wonder if they are truly that poorly constructed or if they just take a lot of false-positives to scare people into being more careful.