On The Front Lines
Citing Concerns About Profiteering, Illegality & Danger to Drivers, Rutherford Institute Calls for Halt to Red Light Camera Program
Charlottesville, Va.-- Citing grave legal, procedural and safety concerns about Albemarle County's PhotoSafe Program, which relies upon red light monitoring devices put into operation on November 11, 2010, to enforce traffic light signals, The Rutherford Institute has called upon the County Board of Supervisors to discontinue its use of red light cameras at intersections.
A copy of the Institute's letter to the Board of Supervisors is available here.
"The evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that these red light camera systems are not safety devices--they're revenue-raising devices, which may result in even more unsafe conditions at intersections," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Thus, the question that needs to be asked is why are they really being implemented in Albemarle County?"
At an August 5, 2009 meeting, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to implement traffic light signal monitoring systems at a number of intersections. If a driver enters a monitored intersection more than half a second after the traffic light turns red, the camera is triggered to take photos of the vehicle and a ticket is generated. Having received a number of inquiries and complaints regarding the program, The Rutherford Institute launched an investigation into the County's decision to implement the cameras.
That investigation has given rise to a number of concerns, legal and otherwise, relating to the nature of the contractual arrangement with the manufacturer of the devices, the impact of the cameras on traffic safety, the inconsistency of the program's objective with actual evidence, and the overall fairness of the adopted procedures for the system's implementation.
Specifically, Institute attorneys have called into question the County's "cost-neutral" financial arrangement with the Australian-based camera manufacturer Redflex Traffic Systems, which stipulates that the County will never have to pay the vendor more than the amount of revenues generated from traffic citations at monitored intersections, while revenues in excess of the contractual monthly fee will be profit for the County. However, this arrangement appears to be in direct violation of a Virginia statute prohibiting localities from entering into agreements with vendors whereby compensation is based on the number of traffic violations or monetary penalties imposed. As Whitehead points out, by virtue of this arrangement, both the vendor and Albemarle County have a financial incentive to see that as many violations as possible occur.
Moreover, the Institute's investigation revealed that profit motives tend to figure prominently into the decision to implement traffic monitoring systems, hence the trend toward adopting the systems which have been shown to actually increase the number of crashes at monitored intersections. Lengthening the duration of the yellow light, on the other hand, has been proven to dramatically reduce intersection crashes. The Institute's letter also questions the motivation behind a law signed by Governor Bob McDonnell that shortens from sixty (60) days to thirty (30) days the amount of time for drivers to respond to red light camera citations.
