NYC DOT, Families Of Victims Of Red Light Runners Push For Renewal, Expansion Of City’s Red Light Camera (Automated Enforcement) Program

NYC DOT JOINS FAMILIES OF VICTIMS KILLED BY RED-LIGHT RUNNER TO PUSH FOR RENEWAL AND EXPANSION OF THE CITY’S EXPIRING RED LIGHT CAMERA PROGRAM

 

Event Coincides with New Report Showing Red Light Cameras reduce red-light running by 74 percent, Saving Lives and Preventing Serious Injuries

 

Families of David Fernandez and Joel Adames, both killed in a fatal red light running collision in Inwood in 2022, called for Albany to reauthorize red light cameras and expand their use beyond the less than 1% of intersections where they are currently permitted

Editor’s note: Similar to the debate over speed cameras, where residents have argued that they are about revenue and not about safety, red light cameras have spawned their own contentious arguments, with supporters and detractors alike.  Our recent article by the DOT, noted above, highlights the severe reduction in speeding where there are speed cameras. This also provides evidence for the argument that these cameras target residents in the neighborhoods.  The speeding may have been reduced because, for the most part, the same people take the same route every day.  Once their first ticket comes, they know where the camera is and slow down in its vicinity.

 However, another issue with the speed cameras was mentioned by Scott LoBaido during the DOT’s community transportation forum on Staten Island.  He noted that a lot of people know where the cameras are, and they slow down just as they get to the camera, speeding up twice as fast after passing it.  This could be a safety hazard.  When these cameras are placed near a school, they are often in hidden or inconspicuous locations so that drivers are taken by surprise.  Read about the debate on Reddit, where in some states, the flashing yellow signs were actually removed, being replaced by black and white signs which are less noticeable.  Since they are hard to see, this might also facilitate drivers’ speeding in school zones, which then generates revenue, particularly if they are not aware of the presence of a school in the area. 

Regarding red light cameras specifically, an attorney website says, “Many critics argue that they are simply installed to generate revenue, while some crash statistics reveal that red light cameras at intersections actually cause crashes, instead of preventing them. Still other studies show consistent examples of decreased accident rates at intersections where the cameras are installed.”

NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez joined the families of David Fernandez and Joel Adames, who were tragically killed in a red light running crash in Inwood in 2022, to call for the renewal and expansion of the city’s red light camera program. The event coincides with the release of NYC DOT’s Red Light Camera Report showing the tremendous safety benefits of red light cameras. Report data indicates that red light cameras, currently permitted under state law at less than 1% of New York City intersections, dramatically reduce red-light running and dangerous crashes, saving lives and preventing serious injuries. The push comes amidst a record surge in traffic fatalities attributable to red light running. Last year, 29 people died as a result of red light running, an all-time high. All 29 fatalities occurred at intersections without a red light camera.

 

Attendees at the event called for passage of a package of bills to renew and expand the red light camera program and to crack down on the city’s most reckless red light runners. The legislation would expand the camera program from less than 1% of the city’s intersections to 10% of intersections that have a traffic signal. A companion bill would require the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to revoke the vehicle registration of vehicles that receive five or more red light camera violations in a 12-month period.

 

“The data is clear: red light cameras save lives. No family should have to bury a loved one because of a reckless driver, and we need Albany to renew and expand the red light camera program to prevent the next tragedy from occurring,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “New York City should be able to use all available tools to keep New Yorkers safe and prevent crashes like the one that killed David Fernandez and Joel Adames.”

 

“We have lost too many of our students and other members of our school communities to motorists failing to follow the law. Red light cameras began in school zones because they work, and our students deserve that sort of safety wherever they walk in their city, ” said Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. “We unequivocally support the expansion of the city’s red light camera program because red light cameras keep our students and their communities safe. ”

“Pedestrian safety remains critically important around older adult centers and the entire city. Red light cameras keep all New Yorkers safe, and it is time to install more of them to reduce the number of tragic speeding-related crashes” said Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez. “By making our streets safe, we are helping ensure our city is even more accessible, walkable, and inclusive for New Yorkers of all ages.”

“The red light camera program is a vital tool for accountability, which in turn, leads to better decision-making by drivers,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “What happened to David Fernandez should never have occurred and we have to use every tool available to prevent future deaths. We owe it David’s family, and to every New Yorker, to make our streets safer.”

 

RED LIGHT CAMERA REPORT

 

New data from NYC DOT’s annual red light camera report shows a steady decline in average daily violations at camera locations, from roughly 30.8 daily violations per camera in 1994, to 8.18 violations per camera in 2023. T-bone collisions causing injury are also dramatically down at camera locations, with a 65 percent decline citywide when comparing these injury collisions in 2023 to the three-year annual average at the same intersection prior to the installation of red light cameras. Rear-end collisions are also down 49% in 2023 under the same statistical comparison.

Banner Image: Red Light Camera Installation. Image Credit – Darin Howard