In spite of all the rhetoric from politicians and political pundits calling for less government regulations, it seems that there is one area where Americans agree more laws and regulations are needed. According to the results of a recently released survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Americans seem to agree on the need for more laws and regulations to make America’s roads safer.

Released in conjunction with the “Decade of Action on Road Safety”, an initiative designed to reduce highway deaths and injuries worldwide by the year 2020, the survey shows some surprising results. According to the AAA Foundation press release:

Specific survey results include:

• 62 percent of Americans agree the U.S. needs more laws to prevent people from doing dangerous things while driving (17 percent disagree)
• 57 percent of Americans agree their respective state government needs to do more to make their roads safer (11 percent disagree)
• 86 percent of Americans agree all new drivers should be required to complete a driver education course before they can get a driver’s license (3% disagree)
• A majority of Americans agree that both auto manufacturers (60 percent) and the federal government (41 percent) need to do more to make cars safer (9 and 21 percent, respectively, disagree)
• 70 percent of Americans agree that driving safety laws should be enforced more strictly (6 percent disagree)
  

For global context, separate information provided by the "Make Roads Safe" global campaign shows:

• 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year
• 3. 5 million people globally are injured, many disabled as a result
• Annual road deaths globally are forecast to rise to 1.9 million by 2020
• Road deaths are the #1 cause of death for young people worldwide (including in the U.S.)
• By 2015, road deaths will be the leading health burden for children

This survey comes on the heels of a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released in February that shows that red light cameras save lives. The study compared cities (with and without red light cameras) with populations of more than 200,000 and determined that:

• 159 lives were saved in the 14 biggest cities with red light cameras
• An additional 815 lives could have been saved during the same period had red light cameras been installed.
• 676 people were killed and approximately 113,000 were injured by red light runners in 2009. Two-thirds of the victims were people other than the red light runners.

If you agree that more needs to be done to make the roads safer, contact your local and state representatives and let them know how you feel.

Labels: driver education, driving safety, red light, red light camera, red light runners, road safety, vehicle safety

The installation of red light cameras has stirred up quite a debate throughout the United States between those who feel red light cameras promote safety and those who feel they are an invasion of civil liberties. The debate received more fuel with a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that showed that red light cameras save lives.

The IIHS study, released on February 1st, indicated that "red light cameras reduce not only fatal red light running crashes, but other types of fatal intersection crashes as well." The study went on to say that "red light cameras have saved 159 lives in 2004-08 in 14 of the biggest US cities and that, had cameras been operating during that period in all large cities, a total of 815 deaths would have been prevented." The study looked at 99 cities with populations over 200.000 and compared the rate of crashes between those cities that had red light cameras and those that didn't. The study concluded that “the rate of fatal red light running crashes in cities with cameras in 2004-08 was 24 percent lower than it would have been without cameras.”

The IIHS study backed up an earlier study by Old Dominion University that compared the rate of traffic crashes before red light cameras were installed at intersections in Virginia Beach, during their operation, and after the removal of the cameras. The study showed traffic crashes were reduced during the period that the cameras were installed.

Those groups opposed to red light cameras argue that the cameras are just a way for local governments to raise additional revenue and that the cameras are an invasion of privacy. IIHS president Adrian Lund was quoted saying; "Somehow, the people who get tickets because they have broken the law have been cast as the victims," Lund says. "We rarely hear about the real victims — the people who are killed or injured by these lawbreakers."

"Red light running killed 676 people and injured an estimated 113,000 in 2009. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths were people other than the red light running drivers — occupants of other vehicles, passengers in the red light runners' vehicles, bicyclists, or pedestrians."

A quick Google search of news articles in just the past month shows that red light runners have been responsible for the deaths of:

• An 11 year old girl who was a passenger in a vehicle struck by red light runner.


• A family of five who were all killed when their vehicle was struck by a red light runner.


• A nun whose vehicle was struck by a red light runner.


• A female passenger riding in the vehicle of a 16 year old driver who ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle.


• A passenger in a vehicle struck by a red light runner.


• Two drivers of vehicles who were struck by red light runners.


• A pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle that had been struck by a red light runner and pushed across the intersection.

These figures do not include the larger number of people who were injured in collisions caused by red light runners.

There is no way to know whether or not these twelve victims might still be alive today had red light cameras been installed but the data seems to point to the fact that red light cameras do save lives and it is possible that some of these innocent victims might have been saved if red light cameras been installed.

In the State of Florida, there is a law that took effect October 1, 2009, which makes a 4-hour traffic school or basic driver improvement course a requirement for all drivers that receive a traffic ticket for running a red light.

Labels: pedestrian safety, red light, red light camera, red light runners, vehicle crashs