Red-light camera study shows rear-end collision increase
Drivers who are afraid of getting caught on a camera running a red light often hit the brakes and get rear-ended by the car behind them, a red-light camera study shows. In Charlotte, N.C., rear-end crashes went up by 16 percent over a three-year period after cameras were installed in 1998, according to a study done in 2001 that was commissioned by the city. In San Diego, those same collisions went up by 37 percent, according to a 2002 study commissioned by the city. Philadelphia is preparing to install the cameras at traffic intersections, but officials are not promoting the new information. City officials and officials at the Philadelphia Parking Authority will oversee the city’s red-light-camera traffic-enforcement program, and acknowledge that rear-end collisions may go up, but say that number will be far outweighed by the decrease in right-angle collisions, which usually result in more serious injuries than rear-end crashes. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/9759710.htm