Evaluation of Automated Camera Enforcement on Red Light Running Violations by Time into the Red Phase Nicole Oneyear and Shauna Hallmark

Red Light Running in Iowa 8,162 crashes occurred at signalized intersections in Iowa between 2001 through 2006 RLR crashes Accounts for 20.6% of all signalized intersection crashes 35% of fatal and major injury crashes at signalized intersections

Red Light Running Nationally accounts for 10% of intersection fatalities AAA 2010 Traffic Culture Index 93% of respondents consider RLR unacceptable Over 30% admitted to running a RL in the last 30 days Communities should consider range of treatments Least to most intrusive Recommend engineering study

Red Light Running Camera Enforcement Citations issues as civil violations No points against license Not reported to insurance companies Red light citation fines vary Difficult to “enforce” an intersection Officers need to be able to locate and then purse violate (often thru red light, safety issue)

Analysis Crash analysis is the most accepted way to evaluate the effectiveness of a red light camera program Need multiple years worth of after crash data Violation study is another method which can be used in the short term Used with the assumption that violations are a surrogate for crashes

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Program Cameras installed at 8 intersections February 2010 – December month warning period before citations were issued Stealth period 2 days to 1 week prior to cameras going live No signs and no media releases

Time into red Some concern that RLR cameras only reduce early RLR Intentional violators versus distracted violators Left turn crashes typically occurred 0 to 1 second into red (Bonneson and Zimmerman, 2004) Right angle (broadside crashes) usually occur 3 or more seconds into the red (Milazzo et al, 2001; Bonneson and Zimmerman, 2004)

Time into Red Analysis Evaluated reduction of RLR violations by time into red 4 of the intersections were used Before and After Analysis Before: camera stealth period After: June, August and October 2010 Lanes where LT/RT on red were removed Broken down by type of day Daytime: 5:00 am - 10:00 pm Night: 10:00 pm – 2:00 am Late Night: 2:00 am – 5:00 am

Cedar Rapid Results

Daytime Results Hours: 5:00 am - 9:59:59 pm

Night Results Hours: 10:00 pm - 1:59:59 am

Late Night Results Hours: 2:00 am - 4:59:59 am

Conclusions Largest decrease in violation rates seen for ≥3 seconds Especially during daytime hours Supports the effectiveness of cameras in increasing safety Daytime hours saw the greatest decreases Risk of crash is higher due to the larger volumes of traffic on the roads No statistically significant changes seen during late night hours