Red Light Camera (Photo : http://hothardware.com/)
Red light cameras in the city of Chicago have been found to cause more road accidents rather than deterring them, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The study, authorized by the city's daily newspaper, analyzed Chicago's network of 350 red light cameras. It found that red light cameras situated in intersections was the cause of a 22 percent increase in rear-end crashes, leading to more road accidents and injuries.
According to Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, the red light cameras are the reason for a decrease of 47 percent in right-angle crashes. However, the commissioned study found out that there was only a 15 percent decrease.
The Expired Meter writer Mike Brockway said that the red light cameras were only to generate revenue through "fake safety."
Chicago's red light cameras, which gave 9,000 speeding tickets in 2007, have generated about $600 million since 2003. The speeding tickets costs around $100 each.
The study was headed by Texas A&M University professor Dominique Lord from its Zachry Department of Civil Engineering. He said that the program "had little effect" in increasing safety.
A similar issue regarding the anti-speeding program was observed in a town in Ohio.
Elmwood Place, with a population of around 2,000, saw about 18,000 cars driving per day, with some speeding. The town then installed red light cameras by Optotraffic, which got 40 percent of the revenue and the rest to Elmwood.
Within a month, the program generated 6,600 tickets with an average cost of $105 each.
