Despite All Sorts Of Laws And Automated Ticketing Cameras... Car Injuries Increased In The UK

from the damn-that-data dept

With so much effort put towards new laws banning mobile phone use while driving, and installing speed cameras and redlight cameras, you would think that places that were quite aggressive in doing so would see a decrease in the number of auto injuries. After all, isn't that the point of all of this? The UK has been particularly aggressive in such efforts, but as Jeff Nolan alerts us, a new report out in the UK suggests that (despite the gov't's earlier claims) injury accidents have actually increased over time. The government has now been forced to admit that the stats it had been pumping out (which showed a decrease) were faulty, and that the real number of accidents may be as much as three times as high as what it had been reporting. This only came about after the British Medical Journal looked at hospital admission records of those injured in car crashes, and saw the numbers went up as these new efforts were put in place in the UK. We're all for safer driving, but the claims that these measures lead to safer driving aren't supported by the data.

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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Fri, Jun 6th 2008 10:03am

New York Times Takes On Red Light Cameras

from the good-for-them dept

Over the past few years, we've seen plenty of stories about problems with red light cameras, from the fact that they tend to cause more accidents (though, rear end accidents, rather than t-bone accidents) to the fact that some cities have been caught lowering the yellow light time in order to catch more red light runners. One thing that seems quite clear at this point is that the cameras are not about promoting safe driving at all, but are purely about increasing revenue (both for the local government and for the private companies who usually manage the cameras for a cut of the fees). And while there have been some mainstream press reports about the problems with the cameras, there haven't been many public calls from the mainstream press to do something about them.

That is, until a NY Times reporter got dinged by a red light camera (though, for some odd reason, he didn't find out about it until years after it happened). And then we get a nice report on all of the problems with red light cameras and how cities could easily increase safety by merely increasing the amount of time a light is yellow. It's nice to see this issue getting some more attention. Road safety is an important issue -- and it's a shame that governments have been making roads less safe in an attempt to increase revenue when there are much better solutions out there.

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Studies

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Mar 17th 2008 12:02pm

Yet Another Study Shows Red Light Cameras Cause More Accidents And Aren't Needed

from the it's-all-about-the-money dept

Over and over again, we've seen studies that have shown that red light cameras tend to increase, not decrease auto accidents, and certainly don't do much to improve safety. The Agitator points us to yet another study, this time from researchers at the University of South Florida, who again point out that red light cameras tend to increase the number of accidents. The research also points out that accidents from running red lights are rather rare, and it's hardly a problem that requires automation. As for the few studies that have shown better safety from red light cameras, every single one came from a group poised to make money off of the cameras -- and they certainly do make money. It's just unfortunate that it seems to come at the expense of more car accidents, all in the bogus name of public safety. Update: Of course, just after publishing this, I see a story on Engadget about how Dallas has found that red light cameras are effective in preventing red light violations (no word on rear end collisions from people slamming on the brakes however). Yet, here's the irony: because of that, the city gov't doesn't want to install any more, as it's cutting into revenue.

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Despite All Sorts Of Laws And Automated Ticketing Cameras... Car Injuries Increased In The UK

from the damn-that-data dept

New York Times Takes On Red Light Cameras

from the good-for-them dept

Yet Another Study Shows Red Light Cameras Cause More Accidents And Aren't Needed

from the it's-all-about-the-money dept

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