A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that cameras located on red lights can reduce the number of traffic violations at these intersections. The test was conducted in Arlington, Virginia, which is one of the approximately 540 communities in the U.S. that currently has these devices at intersections in the area.
"This study provides fresh evidence that automated enforcement can get drivers to modify their behavior," said Anne McCartt, the researcher at IIHS who authored the study. "... What these numbers show is that those violations most likely to lead to a crash are reduced the most."'
While the public perception of traffic cameras may still be mixed, the results cannot be denied - infractions involving the running of red lights decreased by a significant amount, The Car Connection reports. Violations occurring at least 0.5 seconds after the light turned red were down 39 percent, those that happened after 1 second fell 48 percent and incidents occurring after 1.5 seconds dropped by 86 percent.
Limiting the number of times people run red lights can also lead to fewer accidents happening as a result of these infractions. Improving road safety then cut down on the number of personal injuries or auto repair that arose as a result of these violations.