Ongoing Evaluation
Plan your own campaign
Ongoing Evaluation
To ensure program effectiveness, your coalition needs to collect data of the same type and in the same format as was done before the program was launched. It is one of the few concrete ways to convince the driving public, the media and your sponsors of the effectiveness of your program.
Citation and Crash Data
You will need to contact the same law enforcement agencies and members of the medical community to compare the crash and citation data collected before the program with later results. Relevant data would include:
- Method and extent of enforcement (and if it's increased)
- Other citations given as a result of a red light running citation (driving without a license, DUI, outstanding criminal warrants, etc.)
- Number and severity of crashes
- Number and severity of injuries as a result of crashes
Automated Enforcement
More and more states have enacted legislation to allow communities to choose to utilize automated enforcement of red light running through the use of cameras mounted at specific hazardous intersections. Photo enforcement can help communities enforce traffic laws by automatically photographing vehicles whose drivers run red lights. A red light camera system is connected to the traffic signal and to sensors buried in the pavement at the crosswalk or stop line. The system continuously monitors the traffic signal, and the camera itself is triggered by any vehicle passing over the sensors above a preset minimum speed and a specified time after the signal has turned red.
A second photograph is taken that typically shows the red light violator in the intersection. The camera records the date, time of day, time elapsed since the beginning of the red signal and the speed of the vehicle. The electronic flash produces clear images of vehicles under all light and weather conditions. Tickets are typically sent via mail to owners of violating vehicles, based on review of photographic evidence.
The addition of these cameras would obviously affect data collection, but may also lessen the risk of red light running in your community.
For more information on existing camera legislation in your state, contact your state representative's office. Camera legislation provides a great media angle. The more you can make your local media aware of camera legislation in your state, the more you increase your chances of media attention regarding red light running.
Existing Study on Automated Enforcement
In 1997, Oxnard, Calif. (population of just over 151,000), conducted a study to analyze the influence of red light camera enforcement on signal violation rates. Fourteen intersections (nine camera sites, three non-camera sites and two control sites) were studied.
A red light violation was defined as a vehicle entering an intersection (as detected by pavement sensors) after the signal light had been red for a minimum elapsed time of 0.4 seconds and the measured speed of the vehicle was at least 15 mph. The duration of yellow traffic signal timing has been found to influence red light running at urban intersections, so yellow signal timings at the camera sites were checked against an Institute of Transportation Engineers (1985) proposed recommended practice and found to be adequate.
During the study, the consequence for running a red light was a $104 fine and one point on the driver's license. Camera enforcement was preceded by a 30-day warning period during which red light cameras photographed violators, but no tickets were issued.
Overall, the red light violation rate was reduced approximately 42 percent several months after the enforcement began. Increases in driver compliance rates were not limited to the camera-equipped intersections, but spilled over into other intersections as well.
