Updated: Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010, 6:26 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010, 4:42 PM CDTM Austin News
Reagan Hackleman
AUSTIN (KXAN) - It’s been almost two years since Austin added itself the list of cities using red light cameras.
“Our whole goal of supporting this program was to reduce traffic crashes,” said Cmdr. Stephen Baker with the Austin Police Department.
And for the most part, according to the APD, that’s happened.
APD officials say that during the past two years, intersections with red light cameras have seen the number of wrecks drop by 10 percent.
“Bottom line, it’s reducing the number of crashes in the majority of locations,” Baker said.
But there are two locations where the number of wrecks has gone up.
APD officials say they’ve seen a 33 percent increase at the southbound intersection of MLK and Interstate 35. And just down the street, at at I-35 and 15th, there's been a 64 percent increase.
“We’re going to go into a more in-depth analysis of those locations, and specifically pull out the reports themselves, to find out exactly what factors are involved,” Baker said.
“We need to have more of these cameras,” said Vice-Chair of Austin’s Public Safety Commission Michael Levy.
Part of the commissions job is to make recommendations to the Austin City Council on public safety issues including purchasing and installing more cameras.
“There are people who say it’s an invasion of privacy and so forth, but it’s a balancing act. If you can prevent injuries and fatalities with these cameras as proven in other cities, than it’s wonderful,” Levy said.
APD officials also said the number of tickets issued has followed the same trend as overall crashes.
Roughly 1,500 drivers were busted per month at the beginning. Now, police say the monthly numbers are down to about 900.
