EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT: PILOT STUDY OF AUTOMATED RED LIGHT ENFORCEMENT

This Executive Summary Report presents the primary procedures and key findings of a red light running (RLR) investigation. 47,501 such crashes occurred in Alabama over a nine-year period, producing 16,306 injuries and fatalities. A RLR camera system installed in Tuscaloosa during this project confirmed the extent of the problem. It detected 13,647 violations out of 2,726,061 vehicles observed (about one out of every 200 vehicles). The RLR camera system stored the data on a Web site, where it was available to the research team and City of Tuscaloosa officials. The researchers investigated how the camera system operated, verified its accuracy, evaluated data taken at three intersections, and established the system's cost effectiveness in reducing both RLR and RLR-related crashes. The system was found to be highly effective, and the researchers made the following recommendations: An Alabama oversight committee should be formed to encourage adoption of RLR camera programs; Legislation should be pursued in Alabama to enable automated enforcement of RLR; In selecting sites for RLR cameras, the primary criteria should be crash history, violation history, opinions of local traffic engineers and law enforcement officials, and similar factors; Revenues collected from RLR camera citations should be distributed according to the provisions proposed in Alabama House Bill 683, introduced in the 2001 Legislature; and If excess revenues (beyond the cost of the RLR camera program) are generated, they should be dedicated to safety and road projects in the host city. The research staff strongly encourages the adoption of automated enforcement of RLR in Alabama, as a safety countermeasure to mitigate the approximately 5,278 RLR collisions that occur each year, and to reduce the approximately 1,812 Alabama citizens injured and killed each year in these collisions.

• Record URL:
  http://utca.eng.ua.edu/research/projects/?id=00470
• Supplemental Notes:
  • See also UTCA reports 00470, 00470-1, and 00470-2.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 870205
  Tuscaloosa, AL  United States  35487-0205

  University Transportation Center for Alabama

  University of Alabama
  Tuscaloosa, AL  United States  35487
• Authors:
  • Turner, D S
  • Supriyasilp, T
• Publication Date: 2003-12-31

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 15 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Automated enforcement; Cameras; Cost effectiveness; Countermeasures; Legislation; Location; Pilot studies; Red light running; Revenues; Traffic law enforcement
• Geographic Terms: Alabama; Tuscaloosa (Alabama)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Law; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00969864
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UTCA Final Report 00470-3, Executive Summary Report
• Files: UTC, TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 12 2004 12:00AM