Thursday, January 22, 2015

Red Llight Cameras III


On Tuesday a citizens group dropped off a petition to city hall to put the removal of Red Light Cameras on the ballot for the May 9th election.  The required number of citizens signed this ballot for some reason.  I was told by one individual that the people seeking signatures were not forthright in presenting the issue to voters.   (That is hearsay)

Last Friday evening Kel Walters was killed at the intersection of Burney and Green Oaks.  The best lead that the police have in this murder investigation is a camera from an insurance company.  If we had a camera at this intersection we would know immediately who committed this crime. 
The reason that we have Red Light Cameras at all is the fact that you wanted people to stop running red lights.  That was the number two topic of concern on a survey conducted by the Arlington Police Department in 2005.  Enter the Red Light Cameras in 2007.  Accidents are down 75% at the 19 intersections equipped with Red Light Cameras. 

The city of Houston voted to get rid of their Red Light Cameras in 2010.  Since that time, accidents are up 117% and fatalities are up 30% in the intersections that had Red Light Cameras.  These are facts that cannot be refuted.  Public safety is my number one concern.  Please be informed when entering the ballot box.  

11 comments:

  1. It seems to me that red light cameras are doomed to be pulled out anyway because it has become well known the fines cannot be enforced and the company that owns the cameras will not continue the service if they cannot maintain a stream of revenue.

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  2. Ron Wright is not an employee of the city of Arlington, therefore he doesn't care whether the citizens are safer with the cameras installed or not. If a policeman gives you a warning because you were breaking the law will you continue to do the same thing or be a little more careful. That is the same analogy. If police stopped giving warnings and everyone got tickets that they had to pay, then everyone would be upset because they didn't get a warning. I can't be held accountable for Mr. Wright's decision to not do his job and with hold registrations. As far as I'm concerned he doesn't care about the safety of the citizens of our city.

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  3. I have always despised politicians that use tragedies to their own political gain.

    Further I have also despised politicians who disparage the reputations of others with gutless, empty accusations from positions of either ignorance or malice.

    You sir truly qualify as a grand politician in the Arlington heritage.

    You give us statistics but no supporting data is ever shown, where can we review your numbers about which intersections had how many incidents over what periods of time that you are comparing?

    Ron Wright has been a stand-up member of the Arlington community for much longer than I have observed your having come on the scene. I know that he can defend himself but he served Arlington for years on the same Council that gives you your sense of power and prominence. However, when he served there were issues such as fiscal responsibility and quality of life for the citizens that were more important to him than they seem to be to this council. As Arlington is a portion of that same Tarrant County in which he currently serves our community his interests and concerns for the good of Arlington should be viewed as at least equal to yours. That is unless you are working under some mandate that you have not yet made us aware?

    It is horrific that you would take the death of a young person and use it for gain. Even as you are a grand politician, you are a very small human being.

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  4. Mr. Parker, what about the cameras on all the intersections that are used for police purposes? Did that not capture the person who hit Miss Walters?

    Accusing the Tax Assessor of not caring about the citizens he serves. If he didn't care, why did he run?

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  5. In my view the red light cameras should be there to ticket the more heinous red light runners, such as the one that hit and killed Kelly, not people who turn right on red without coming to a complete stop, posing no threat.

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  6. All red light cameras do is to generate revenue for the revenue enhancement of Arlington. Less Government is better as we all have had to tighten our belts, in the private sector. But all governments become more and more voracious with our tax money.

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  7. If public safety was your concern, they you should be concerned that the TxDOT sets the length of the yellow to half the time it takes a driver to stop his vehicle. You should be concerned that the TxDOT additionally ignores the air-brake lag time, extra perception/reaction time and slower deceleration rates of commercial vehicles forcing a greater proportion of these vehicles to run red lights. Literally the TxDOT forces school buses, public buses and tractor trailer drivers to run red lights by an additional 4 seconds.

    These are laws of physics, Mr. Parker. Are you concerned about this? You will find that 92% of all your red light camera tickets are issued on account of the TxDOT spec on yellows undermining the law of physics. You will find that 70% are issued to "blink-of-an-eye" violations because people do not have the clairvoyance to know what the light is going to change. The TxDOT, after all, does not mark on the road where stop turns into go or tells the driver how long yellow is going to be.

    And by the way, you will find every "pro-camera report that is irrefutable" refutable. Every such report violates the scientific method. 1. These reports never ask the initial question, "Why do drivers run red lights?" They presume that the fault lays with drivers. 2. These reports never enact "controls" during the experiment period. For example, "What else changed? Did the DOT increase the all-red clearance intervals? Did the DOT put dilemma zone detectors on the approach? Did the DOT lengthen or shorten the yellows? Did the DOT build an express way circumventing the red light camera corridor? Also, what is the association between red light running and crashes? I can design an intersection where everyone runs a red light but nobody crashes. I can design the reverse where no one runs a red lights and everybody crashes?

    Publish these reports, Mr. Parker. Then compare to what is required of a legitimate study: http://redlightrobber.com/red/links_pdf/Red-Light-Camera-Before-After-Studies-Deceit.pdf

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  8. Mr. Parker,

    Where are you getting these numbers from? Please present the data that shows that fatalities and accidents are up due to Red Light Camera removals.

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  9. I want to answer as many of these questions with one post. First,the January 15, 2015 edition of EfficientGOV. Has the Houston numbers. This can be accessed by going to EFFICIENTGOV.COM. The city staff report that was utilized for our red light camera discussion has the Arlington numbers. The fact that Ron Wright decided all by himself not to withhold registration puts the increase in traffic accidents on him. The Commissioner's Court didn't decide this for him. Therefore, by his decision not to enforce this statute any increase in accidents at former red light camera intersections could have been prevented. I like Ron but he is no longer bound by the constraints of the Arlington City Charter. He is a employee of Tarrant County.

    This last week several incidents have happened that cameras have captured. A woman was accosted at an ATM and put in the back of her car. The culprit was caught on film and the police know who they are looking for. The second incident resulted in a 61 year old nurse being killed at Parkland Hospital. He was struck by a Southwest Airlines van. The driver of the van can thank God that there was a red light camera at that intersection. The accident was caught on film and clearly shows that the pedestrian was crossing on a red light. He did this at his own risk and it resulted in his death. The driver of the van was exonerated but will have to live with this tragedy. If the red light camera hadn't been there,I'm certain there would have been lawsuits and he would have lost his job and his family their sustenance. I wish we had a camera at Kel's intersection so that we could have the individual in custody instead of still out on our streets. This isn't about money. Those of you that bring this up should be ashamed of yourself.

    My wife and child were T boned several years ago. It was only by luck that a good citizen gave testimony concerning the other lady running a red light. Otherwise it would have been she said, she said. I don't care if you like me or not. That isn't the issue. Houston's fatal crashes at the intersections that had red light cameras are up 30%. My son now lives in Houston and I certainly hope that he is not one of the 30%. I can only hope that none of your loved ones are either.

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  10. The comments against the red light cameras don't address the information that red light cameras reduce the number of accidents, save lives, and sometimes solve crimes. We live in a crowded world. Everyone cannot do exactly as they please all the time in spite of how it affects someone else. It's makes no sense to be against something that the information shows prevents this many accidents and saves this many lives. My husband has received 2 or 3 or these red-light camera tickets. We were aggravated that he got careless and ran the light, but I am for the cameras. I have almost been hit by someone speeding through an intersection in a red light. If I had just trusted my green light and driven into the intersection, I probably would have been killed. There needs to be a deterrent for this kind of arrogant and careless behavior, and red light cameras are a good one.

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  11. This election on May 9th will have the issue of Red Light Cameras on the ballot. The question is an easy one. Do you want more accidents or less accidents at our intersections in Arlington. For those individuals that want more accidents, I simply cannot speak to that level of intellect. I ask all responsible voters to support the effort to keep Red Light Cameras in Arlington.

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