About 100 fatalities and 6,300 injuries occur every year in Florida due to red light running, with 525 crashes in Orlando in 2007 alone.  Recently the city of Orlando has begun to install traffic cameras at intersections to help curtail the number of red light runners.  The light at Conroy Road and Vineland Road will have three cameras and the intersection at Turkey Lake and Wallace Road will have two.  These traffic cameras work by taking a digital picture of the license plate of the car that runs the red light, notice is then mailed to the violator who has 30 days to either pay or appeal the ticket. 

Traffic cameras have been proven to significantly reduce the number of red light running violations.  USA Today reports that cameras are effective in changing actual behavior: violations dropped by 36% after yellow lights were extended to give drivers more warning that the light was about to turn red. After red-light cameras were added, remaining violations dropped by 96%.

While cities argue that the cameras are effective in changing driving behavior, statistics have proven that they actually increase traffic accidents.  The increase in traffic accidents is due to the increase in rear end collisions from people slamming on their brakes when they spot a red light camera.  Therefore although red light running violations might be down, traffic accidents, specifically rear end collisions could go up.  Due to the increased traffic accident statistics, the State of Florida has actually refused to legalize their use for the state-highway system.  Cities however are able to sidestep this by making it a violation of a local ordinance to run a red light.  Penalties for being caught include being fined.

In order to make sure that you keep yourself and others safe, please remember to be safe when driving through intersections and keep an eye out for others.  If you are involved in an accident, please contact the qualified attorneys at the Kane Law Firm, P.A. in Maitland (just outside of Orlando), Florida at (407) 644-KANE (5263), submit a contact form on our website, or email us at Info@KaneInjury.com.