Do they actually reduce accidents?

Published 2:11 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2007

In regard to the Nov. 24 article about Mountlake Terrace studying red-light cameras: The fact that Lynnwood has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few months tells me Mountlake Terrace doesn’t need a study to decide to generate that kind of revenue for the city.

I would like to see a non-biased study to see if it reduces accidents, or just increases rear-end accidents from people stopping suddenly at the hint of a signal changing. It’s my guess that running lights that have just turned red isn’t the cause of accidents at intersections. It’s the people who pull out in front of the car they didn’t see, or not paying attention and running a light that has been red for some time, both of which the cameras will not prevent. These cameras are just a way to collect tax revenue.

Kevin Rock