Study: Virginia Beach red-light cameras offer mixed results

MAP | CRASHES AT RED-LIGHT CAMERA INTERSECTIONS

Total crashes at 13 intersections in Virginia Beach with red light cameras decreased by almost 25 percent between 2008, when red light cameras were installed, and 2010. Intersections with red pointers saw an increase in crashes; blue, a decrease. Click on a marker to view that intersection's detailed crash statistics. The story is below.

Map by David M. Putney | The Virginian-Pilot

Related graphic: Who has been ticketed

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VIRGINIA BEACH

In 2009, the city installed red-light cameras at 13 intersections, hoping the threat of a $50 fine would compel drivers to hit the brakes and avoid dangerous and costly collisions.

Last year, a Virginian-Pilot analysis of crash data shows, the number of crashes at those intersections declined.

In 2008, nearly 300 crashes occurred at the 13 targeted intersections, according to data provided by the city's Traffic Engineering Division. Last year, the first that all of the cameras operated for an entire calendar year, that number fell 24 percent to 226 crashes, according to an analysis of crash data provided by the Police Department.

The results at individual intersections are mixed.

At General Booth Boulevard and Dam Neck Road, Princess Anne Road and Lynnhaven Parkway and Princess Anne Road and Dam Neck Road, crashes increased.

And crashes at the 13 intersections with red-light cameras were more likely to be rear-end collisions than at other crossroads. Nearly 60 percent of the crashes at the monitored intersections were rear-end collisions, compared with about 35 percent of the collisions at all intersections citywide, according to crash data.

City officials involved with the program are cautiously optimistic.

"I believe that driver behavior has improved at all these locations," said Officer Brian Walters, who runs the Police Department's PhotoSafe program. "I talked to a lot of the police officers and the firefighters about our program, and they've all given me positive or favorable comments in noticing that they respond to the locations less."

But they're careful not to give the cameras all the credit. Many factors can contribute to crash rates, including the weather and traffic volumes, city traffic engineer Robert Gey said.

"As far as we're concerned, the information, it's preliminary," he said. "But we're optimistic that that's a good sign that things are getting safer."

The city will conduct an in-depth study once several years of data are available, Gey said. It will use a control intersection, consider larger traffic and crash trends and examine the causes of each crash, including whether it involved red-light running, he said.

The cameras don't monitor every approach at every intersection. So if a crash wasn't at a monitored approach, it shouldn't necessarily be counted, Gey said. At General Booth Boulevard and Dam Neck Road, where crashes increased last year, the majority of the collisions were at an approach not watched by a camera, he said.

There are 20 cameras monitoring 13 intersections throughout the city. When a driver runs a red light, the vehicle triggers sensors in the road, prompting a camera to snap several photos and take a short video. A police officer then reviews the footage and decides whether to issue the vehicle's registered owner a $50 civil fine.

Police issued 64,761 violations last year, taking in $2.5 million in fines.

The Police Department and Traffic Engineering Division selected the intersections based on a variety of factors, including the number of serious crashes caused by red-light running. One of the most problematic intersections was Virginia Beach Boulevard and Great Neck Road, Walters said.

Of the 13 camera locations, that intersection saw the biggest drop in collisions last year. They fell 82 percent, from 22 in 2008 to four last year, according to data.

The cameras may have contributed to a drop in angle, or T-bone, collisions, which police say tend to cause the most property damage and serious injuries. At the monitored intersections, one in three crashes was an angle collision, compared with nearly half for crashes at intersections citywide, according to the data.

Sam Reid, programs chairman and former president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations, said he initially opposed the program but has changed his position.

"The bottom line is as you drive around the city, the intersections where the red-light cameras are at, people stop," he said.

"A 25 percent overall drop, that's huge," he added. "Think about how many people that don't have to go to the hospital, how many times EMS doesn't have to respond, the fire department doesn't have to respond."

The program still has skeptics.

"I just don't see that it's necessarily worth it," Sandra Burleson of Windsor Oaks said. "I think it's too much Big Brother."

Virginia Beach's results so far seem consistent with what many studies have found: The cameras can cause a decrease in crashes, especially fatal right-angle crashes, said Bryan Porter, a traffic psychology expert at Old Dominion University. It's typical to see an increase in rear-end collisions until drivers get used to the program, he said.

"In general, most rear-end crashes are safer than side-impact, higher-speed crashes," Porter said. "Cameras do very well at reducing the kind of crashes that most of the time kill people at intersections."

No fatalities were reported at the 13 intersections in 2008 or 2010.

A study released in February by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that cities with camera programs saw a 14 percent decrease in fatal crash rates at monitored intersections.

But the program still needs more time before a conclusion can be reached, Gey said.

"Before we say they're a success, we want to be careful about how we look at it," Gey said. "We want to make sure that the study is bullet-proof."

Pilot writers Deirdre Fernandes and Meghan Hoyer contributed to this report.

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com