Red Light Cameras

[macramedildo]

So, they got approved. Do we know where they'll be, and when they'll go in? The Buffalo News said there'll be 50 cameras in "the most high-traffic intersections" and it'll be several months before they're up, apparently

Comments

[aisforapathy]

As an addendum to my previous comment, these red-light cameras alone are not going to magically make our roads safer overnight. Not unlike how a surveillance camera installed on every street corner isn't going to instantly reduce our levels of crime. There is no magic bullet; multi-pronged approaches that are consistently well-funded and sustained over time need to be implemented.

[evilaphrodesia]

I have a magic bullet in my kitchen! Dices my onions and makes yummy smoothies!

[aisforapathy]

You know, I bought my mom one of those for Christmas like four years ago and she never used it? I always wanted to taste a smoothie made by it, too!

[zybergoat]

They work great. Best $30 I ever spent on a kitchen appliance.

[zybergoat]

I don't think this is a solution to Buffalo's traffic problems. It's a shoddy band-aid for Buffalo police pay

[deadkidsyntax]

Nice logic with the yellow lights. Completely eliminating red lights also reduces red light running. Let's do that instead!

I don't anticipate this measure impacting anyone's driving in any significant way. But I am glad that people will have to pay to blow through red lights.

[zybergoat]

It's not quite so much "nice logic" as actual studies done. Lengthening the yellow light by 30 percent reduces accidents and reduces the amount of red lights run.

I'm certainly all for ticketing the people that deliberately run red lights. I see them do it all the time, and not just in Buffalo.

But let's face it, far more people will be impacted by this than those people who do it purposely.

[macramedildo]

"Completely eliminating red lights also reduces red light running. Let's do that instead!" = WIN

so i'm curious... how do you "accidently" run a red light? i mean, you see it yellow up ahead so you deliberately make a choice to not stop, to break the law, and to put other drivers (and pedestrians) at risk.

if you ask me, the fine should be $500!

[babe6576]

I am 1000% FOR the cameras.

They are all over California (where I lived for 5 years) and they help!

Everyone needs to get over it and not SPEED UP when it's yellow.

[macramedildo]

Yeppers. There've been red light cameras 'round my city since I was born. I note that the yellow lights are also SHORTER in WA than they are here.

I don't understand the logic that saying red light cameras = money grab = bad.
first off, buffalo clearly needs them. it's NOT a tax. it's a FINE for BREAKING THE LAW... something buffalonians seems to be completely unfamiliar with. (well, also laws in general.)
secondly, we clearly need the money! the state is broke! our city is poor! we can't afford to put more police out there, so this seems like a good option! the cameras cost $5K a month each, but still are expected to bring in $3m a year here.

and it's been proven to reduce serious accidents and injury!

I had never once heard arguments against this sort of thing until like a month ago, so this is interesting.

[zybergoat]

And studies have ALSO been done to show that other fixes, such as changing the timing of yellow lights, are just as effective as reducing injuries and accidents.

Following the equation, the safest thing would apparently be to do nothing.

[macramedildo]

I think it's just how people get used to driving in an area. Running a red light on the west coast is really rare, but we also have really SHORT yellows. so i mean, if they do something like this now it might take a whole generation of drivers re-learning driving habits to really see a result.

[blehpunk]

im fine with the red light cameras. the speeding ticket cameras are the ones that really cause accidents. i just drove through phoenix and almost got crushed between 2 suvs, there were accidents all over the freeway on both sides of the city. fuckin phoenix.