Does Photo Enforcement Change Driver Behavior?

1. DOES PHOTO ENFORCEMENT CHANGE DRIVER BEHAVIOR?

2. PHOTO ENFORCEMENT • For decades, different photo enforcement technologies have been deployed in municipalities around the globe. • These solutions include fixed and mobile speed cameras, red light cameras, average speed cameras and more. • The goal of all of these tools is to increase traffic safety in each community. • Of course photo enforcement solutions aren’t without their critics. • The anti-camera crowd believes these tools do not make driving safer. • Detractors maintain cameras simply generate additional government revenues.

3. PHOTO ENFORCEMENT • TRAFFIC CRASHES CAUSE INJURY AND DEATH • Everyone understands how serious a traffic crashes can be. And, the faster a car is traveling before a crash, the greater the loss of life and property. • If your speed exceeds the limit or is going too fast for the current road conditions, you’re at risk of causing a crash that will injure you and/or others. • You’d think risk of injury or even death to yourself or someone else would be enough incentive for everyone behind the wheel to take greater caution. Statistics tell us otherwise, unfortunately. • Photo enforcement cameras can and have changed driving behavior in the locations they’ve been installed. • The risk of paying fines and possibly losing driving privileges has caused drivers to think twice before they speed or run a red light.

4. PHOTO ENFORCEMENT • STUDIES SUPPORT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT EFFECTIVENESS • Although some studies cast doubt on whether photo enforcement cameras work, many others support their success. • So which studies should you believe? • The best way to evaluate photo enforcement is to compare before and after data. • In other words, compare the numbers of traffic violations, crashes, injuries and deaths before cameras were installed versus after they were installed • Did traffic safety improve, stay the same or deteriorate? • Can any external factors besides photo enforcement be responsible for these changes? • Another comparison could be with similar locations that did not have cameras installed. • How does the traffic safety data compare during the same period of time for these two different scenarios?

5. PHOTO ENFORCEMENT • STUDIES SUPPORT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT EFFECTIVENESS • A group of analysts reviewed 35 studies conducted across the globe and concluded the following: • All the studies dealing with speed found average driver speeds were reduced after photo enforcement cameras were installed. • Most countries involved in the studies reported speeding reductions between 10% and 35%. • Of the 28 studies measuring the effect on crashes, all 28 experienced a reduction after cameras were installed between 8% and 49%. • For crashes that involved injuries, the decrease was between 8% and 50%. • For crashes resulting in serious injury or death, reductions were between 11% and 44%.

6. PHOTO ENFORCEMENT • These studies were conducted across several countries with slightly different criteria. • However, the general conclusion is that photo enforcement had a positive impact on traffic safety. • And the analysts clearly found reductions occurred across all 35 studies. • Photo enforcement had a positive impact on reducing crashes that lead to injury or death. • Cameras, therefore, provide a simple and economical intervention for saving lives. • Photo enforcement cameras help extend law enforcement resources 24/7. • If the threat of a ticket will make a driver slow down, why not use that tool? • Isn’t saving a life worth it?

7. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jody Ryan is Communications Director at Redflex Traffic Systems®, Inc., a leader in road safety technology that operates more than 2,000 photo enforcement systems in over 250 cities throughout the United States and Canada. For more information about Photo Enforcement solutions, visit http://www.redflex.com today.