Lubbock reconsidering red light cameras; more cities to follow?

by Scott Henson of Grits For Breakfast

I've not been closely tracking the issue of red light cameras since I left the ACLU, but I was interested to see this comment over at ConchoInfo:

Lubbock is giving us some interesting insights on how many cities view red light cameras. They recently received a report on the first 6 months of operation. The results are so bad, the committee charged with overseeing the program is recommending it be discontinued. It is apparent that the cameras are not really improving public safety. Accidents at intersections with cameras are up by 52% while accidents at other intersections are down by 2.7%. The number of injuries is down, but one commenter on the study said that could be due to a number of factors, including the number of passengers in each vehicle. Right out of the gate, their program seems to be failing, and deserves to be discontinued.

See prior Grits coverage of red light cameras, and more recent coverage from BlogHouston and Off the Kuff.

(Editor's note: For local red light camera stories, go...hmm, let's see, here, here, here, here, here, here, and, okay, here.)