Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Jonny Green [Click to enlarge]

At select College Station traffic intersections, a yellow glow disappears, giving way to a burning red light. Then, a flash of a camera captures a vehicle speeding through. At least that's what it's supposed to do. With a growing student population, safety is a major concern. However, a better way to create safer streets, instead of the cameras, is to extend yellow light times and reengineer intersections to compensate for the increased load of drivers.

A College Station voter education brochure for the cameras shows no red light-related crashes from January to September, down from 13 in 2006. However, according to a long-term study funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the use of red light cameras in North Carolina significantly increased the number of crashes across severity levels. The study looked at small urban communities similar in size to College Station and analyzed more communities and more intersections than the City of College Station study.

The seven red light cameras locations are placed in mostly student-populated areas, such as near apartment complexes and townhouses. Data from the City of College Station shows the intersection at Harvey Road and Munson Avenue, where a camera is located, has never had a fatality crash. If these cameras are to remain, they should be placed at areas marked with high crash rates.

With 48,000 students bustling around Aggieland and an increasing freshman enrollment rate, safety is an important issue. However, the best way to ensure both resident and student safety is to reexamine the effectiveness of red light cameras.



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