More evidence red light cameras are about the money, not public safety
CHERRY PICKING CRASH DATA?: A study on red light cameras suggests the crash data is incomplete because it only includes two types of crashes.
By Josh Kaib | WatchdogWire.com
If red light cameras are really making the public safer from renegade motorists, why are the crash numbers being fudged?
In New Jersey, a study by the group Stop Robo Cops — they’re against red light cameras, not the fictional RoboCop character — suggests the crash data is incomplete because it only includes two types of crashes.
The Department of Transportation is collecting crash data from municipalities to determine whether New Jersey’s temporary red light camera program should become permanent.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation says only two types of crashes are effected by red light cameras.
“The focus is on crashes attributable to red light runners … right angle and rear end crashes,” Stephen Schapiro, a NJDOT spokesman, said in a statement to NJ.com.
Data misleads
The co-founders of Stop Robo Cops, George Ford and Rick Short, say that makes the data misleading because other types of crashes occur at or near red lights, too.
“I’d throw the whole report out and start over, the whole approach is wrong,” Ford, a retired engineer, said in an interview with NJ Advance Media.
Ford and Short examined raw crash data, looking at five additional types of crashes. These include crashes involving pedestrians and objects, plus head-on collisions and roll overs.
