Cities Adjusting Yellow Light Timing In Order To Increase Revenue From Traffic Fines
Because revenues are more important than public safety.
Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection.
Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead.
Our bureaucrats in this country are addicted to income from fines. You see, income from fines makes bureaucrats look good. They point to the amount of fines levied and talk about what a good job they’re doing. “Look how many poor drivers we’ve stopped,” they say. Meanwhile, they get more dollars for government spending without the evil of having to raise taxes.
We need a whole new approach to these situations from government. Rather than being so worried about the amount of fines we’re collecting, or the number of people we’re convicting, we should be worried about the number of accidents we’re having. For instance, here in North Dakota we’ve seen a rise in the number of DUI arrests which prompted our Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to call the trend “appalling.” But the reality is that the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries in North Dakota has remained almost constant, and the surge in arrests had more to do with increased enforcement efforts than an increased incidence rate.
Which means that all those arrests really weren’t making anyone safe. Which, in turn, means that we need a different approach to make our roads safer.
Because at the end of the day that’s the goal of law enforcement. Safety, and not necessarily by fining everyone and/or putting them in jail.
