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Traffic cameras profitable, thorny

By: Adam Crisp
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John Van Winkle

Traffic-enforced cameras on streets, highways and intersections dot the landscape in Chattanooga and the surrounding counties.

The cameras, which generate tickets to speeders and red-light runners, have had mixed results in terms of reducing accidents, but the program in Chattanooga has been extremely profitable -- and somewhat controversial.

City Traffic Engineer John VanWinkle reports that accidents in the S curves on Hixson Pike have been reduced markedly since the city began issuing tickets to speeders there.

There were 18 crashes in the Hixson Pike S curves in 2006; 10 in 2007, the year the cameras were installed; and just five crashes in 2008, he said.

The S curves, a deadly accident site for years, had no serious crashes last year, police said.

The story with the red-light cameras is different. Of the five initial cameras, three recorded more right-angle crashes in 2008 than 2007, city records show. Two recorded fewer crashes. Rear-end collisions have stayed roughly the same, the figures show.

"We want to look at the numbers over several years," Mr. VanWinkle said. "We really need at least two years to make any conclusion."

State Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, wasn't ready to wait. He introduced legislation that would have clamped down on red-light cameras. The bill was modified to ban speed cameras only on interstate highways and has been signed into law.

"I don't like red-light cameras, and I don't think they have a thing to do with safety," said Sen. Burchett. "It's a revenue stream for government."

Cameras shut off in Dalton

Dalton, Ga., leaders were not convinced traffic cameras in the Carpet Capital were working effectively, despite a 10-year low in car accidents.

Leaders voted in April to remove the five cameras operated in the downtown area. The cameras were turned off in March. "I've never seen proof that cameras make intersections safer," Mayor David Pennington said. "Most of those tickets are issued for making rolling right-hand turns on red, and that is not an accident issue." The use and effectiveness of remote cameras to enforce traffic laws in the Carpet Capital have been debated hotly for several years.

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