Round Rock Wants Red Light Cameras

Red light cameras (the traffic cameras that capture instant images of cars who run red lights) are catching on, it seems. Round Rock is now planning to join the other Texas cities that use the devices, once the city decides which vendor to use and which intersections need them most. It is very likely that, once approved, a camera will be placed at the intersection of Greenlawn Blvd and Louis Henna Blvd. During a RRPD survey of intersections, over 100 drivers ran the lights at that intersection in a span of only 12 hours.

As Round Rock continues to grow, the town north of Austin has to deal with more traffic issues. Ideally the cameras to come will help curb speeding through intersections and lower the number of traffic accidents. Does the red light camera's ability to target some illegal driving make up for the breach of privacy, though?

[News 8 Austin]
[From May: Testing, Testing: Red Light Cameras Up]

Photo by Matt Wright on flickr

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By Elizabeth S. in News on September 18, 2007 11:50 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

mdahmus

guest #3 assumes that most people run red lights by accident or something - when the opposite is clearly true; most people do it fully knowing they're doing it. Eventually you end up with the situation we had in South Florida where 4 or 5 cars blasted through full-on-red every single cycle and they had to just institute an annoyingly long all-red cycle right in the middle.

guest

Yeah, red light cameras do in-fact decrease the number of red light runners. However, they increase the number of rear-end accidents where these cameras are placed. You end up with people slamming on their brakes as soon as the light turns yellow because they don't want a ticket.

guest

Red light cameras do not improve safety. All they do is provide a source of revenue for the town and the company that runs them.

Make the yellow lights consistent and longer and you won't have people running the red lights. Set a counter on top of the poll that starts counting down when a yellow is up that tells the driver how long until it goes red. Then the driver will have some idea as to whether they can make it through the light or need to start stopping. Some of the lights around Austin and the surrounding towns have their yellow lights set so short that you can't help but running them.

guest

bad link

guest

What bothers me about the red light cameras is that they seem to cause the same amount of danger as running a red light. I've lived in towns previously that had the cameras and they would flash repeatedly when taking the pictures. It was extremely distracting and confusing to be driving and suddenly there were some very intense, almost blinding flashes. I can imagine that could cause several unfortunate incidents.