A point-by-point response to “Speed or Greed: Does Automated Traffic Enforcement Improve Safety or Generate Revenue?”
Farmer, Charles M.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
August 2016
Abstract
In December of 2015, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released a policy paper authored by Hiroko Shimizu and Pierre Desrochers entitled “Speed or Greed - Does Automated Traffic Enforcement Improve Safety or Generate Revenue?” The report concludes that automated enforcement programs often are unnecessary for improving road safety. The report, however, is biased toward apparently preconceived positions on the acceptability of automated enforcement. It ignores numerous peer-reviewed studies that have found real-world benefits in the communities that use automated enforcement — cameras deter would-be violators, reduce crashes, and save lives. The authors provide relatively few citations of research from peer-reviewed journals, and some of the research they cite was either misinterpreted or misrepresented. As such, this so-called “concise summary of the key facts” can only be viewed as incomplete. Solid, published research by a number of experts demonstrates that red light cameras save lives, and speed cameras substantially reduce speeding and speed-related crashes. National surveys indicate widespread support for automated enforcement. The following lists a number of quotes from the paper (in italics) along with opposing views, research, and details that the authors failed to include. Section headings are as given by Shimizu and Desrochers.
In December of 2015, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released a policy paper authored by Hiroko Shimizu and Pierre Desrochers entitled “Speed or Greed - Does Automated Traffic Enforcement Improve Safety or Generate Revenue?” The report concludes that automated enforcement programs often are unnecessary for improving road safety. The report, however, is biased toward apparently preconceived positions on the acceptability of automated enforcement. It ignores numerous peer-reviewed studies that have found real-world benefits in the communities that use automated enforcement — cameras deter would-be violators, reduce crashes, and save lives. The authors provide relatively few citations of research from peer-reviewed journals, and some of the research they cite was either misinterpreted or misrepresented. As such, this so-called “concise summary of the key facts” can only be viewed as incomplete. Solid, published research by a number of experts demonstrates that red light cameras save lives, and speed cameras substantially reduce speeding and speed-related crashes. National surveys indicate widespread support for automated enforcement. The following lists a number of quotes from the paper (in italics) along with opposing views, research, and details that the authors failed to include. Section headings are as given by Shimizu and Desrochers.
Abstract
In December of 2015, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released a policy paper authored by Hiroko Shimizu and Pierre Desrochers entitled “Speed or Greed - Does Automated Traffic Enforcement Improve Safety or Generate Revenue?” The report concludes that automated enforcement programs often are unnecessary for improving road safety. The report, however, is biased toward apparently preconceived positions on the acceptability of automated enforcement. It ignores numerous peer-reviewed studies that have found real-world benefits in the communities that use automated enforcement — cameras deter would-be violators, reduce crashes, and save lives. The authors provide relatively few citations of research from peer-reviewed journals, and some of the research they cite was either misinterpreted or misrepresented. As such, this so-called “concise summary of the key facts” can only be viewed as incomplete. Solid, published research by a number of experts demonstrates that red light cameras save lives, and speed cameras substantially reduce speeding and speed-related crashes. National surveys indicate widespread support for automated enforcement. The following lists a number of quotes from the paper (in italics) along with opposing views, research, and details that the authors failed to include. Section headings are as given by Shimizu and Desrochers.Red light running / Speed: Speed cameras, ID: 2123