Melrose Park Police Department Press Release - Red Light Cameras Save Lives

Red-light cameras are helping drivers remember that red means stop and are saving lives, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The study concludes that the cameras have reduced the rate of fatal crashes involving motorists who run red lights by 24 percent in 14 large cities with red-light cameras.

Researchers compared fatal crash rates that occurred between 1992 to 1996 with rates between 2004 and 2008.

In Chicago, the reduction was 32 percent in fatal accidents involving motorists running red lights.

In overall intersection fatal crash rates, nationally the reduction was 14 percent; in Chicago it was a 4 percent reduction, researchers said.

“Red-light cameras are working,” said institute President Adrian Lund. “There are hundreds of people who are alive because some communities had the courage to use this method of enforcement.

“We think that they are just paying more attention to intersections as they come up on them because they are more certain that if they violate the red light that they will get a ticket,” Lund said.

But some disagree.

Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, a drivers’ rights organization, disputed the institute’s finding that the cameras have reduced deaths. He cited previous studies — questioned by the institute — that found the cameras increase crashes, including rear-end collisions. As for calling the cameras a low-cost solution, Biller added: “They’re not low cost to the motorist.” AP