Overview
Around the nation, there are more than one million motor vehicle collisions each year. Motorists who run red lights are a major factor in the majority of those accidents. According to research, red light running is the most frequent cause of traffic collisions in metropolitan areas. Motorists and pedestrians are also more likely to be injured in collisions involving red light runners than in any other type of collision.
Red Light Photo Safety (RLPS) programs have proven effective in accident reduction. Here in San Diego, between June, 2003 and March, 2004 there were no traffic collisions attributed to red light running at five of the active RLPS intersections. In the previous year, there were nine.
There are currently more than 30 jurisdictions in California using RLPS systems and about 100 around the United States. In 1993, New York City became the first U.S. city to implement the program. There are 50 active RLPS intersections in New York City and 200 "dummy" cameras. The city has shown a 40% decrease in red light running at intersections with red light cameras.
San Francisco began a RLPS program in 1996 and within six months after the cameras were installed, the number of red light runners dropped by 42% at RLPS intersections.
In San Diego County, the City of El Cajon currently utilizes RLPS and several other jurisdictions are in the process of installing systems.
For comments or suggestions, please send an e-mail to redlightphoto@sandiego.gov.
A Red Light Photo Safety Traffic Engineer will respond to your e-mail.
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