Comments on: Rocky public service lives on . . . Denver drivers will get fewer red light tickets http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/2009/03/04/rocky-public-service-lives-on-denver-drivers-will-get-fewer-red-light-tickets/ Colorado's oldest newspaper stopped publishing Feb. 27, 2009, but it didn't die. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:14:39 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: DenverBrian http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/2009/03/04/rocky-public-service-lives-on-denver-drivers-will-get-fewer-red-light-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-3049 DenverBrian Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:48:24 +0000 http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/?p=1455#comment-3049 Self-congratulate to your heart's content, Kevin. What bloggie misses is the penultimate point of the whole exercise: Are red-light cameras a safety-inducing feature...or a revenue-generating feature? And I would guess that lengthening yellow light duration will also reduce the amount of "car in crosswalk" situations. In other words, what is the ultimate goal of the city in tinkering with intersections: Safety or money? If the former, you seem to have ferreted out that the near-zero-cost timing of yellow lights has as much or more effect on safety than cameras. If the latter...well, then maybe the city should just 'fess up and admit that they're interested in red light cameras primarily as a revenue enhancement feature. Self-congratulate to your heart’s content, Kevin. What bloggie misses is the penultimate point of the whole exercise: Are red-light cameras a safety-inducing feature…or a revenue-generating feature?

And I would guess that lengthening yellow light duration will also reduce the amount of “car in crosswalk” situations.

In other words, what is the ultimate goal of the city in tinkering with intersections: Safety or money? If the former, you seem to have ferreted out that the near-zero-cost timing of yellow lights has as much or more effect on safety than cameras. If the latter…well, then maybe the city should just ‘fess up and admit that they’re interested in red light cameras primarily as a revenue enhancement feature.

]]> By: Kevin Flynn http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/2009/03/04/rocky-public-service-lives-on-denver-drivers-will-get-fewer-red-light-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-3025 Kevin Flynn Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:09:13 +0000 http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/?p=1455#comment-3025 It doesn't take one minute of studying red light cameras in place to know that lengthening the yellow change interval always produces a reduction in red-light running. The studies all show that. You missed the point. My item isn't about waiting to see whether or not red light cameras reduce red light running. It's about the fact that Denver has looked at the issues I raised and as a result decided to increase yellows everywhere else. That's a good thing, and sorry for the self congratulations but everyone does it -- even traffic engineers and assistant city attorneys (*cough*) have awards dinners. This is an example of what local newsrooms dig out, and what the city will miss. It doesn’t take one minute of studying red light cameras in place to know that lengthening the yellow change interval always produces a reduction in red-light running. The studies all show that. You missed the point. My item isn’t about waiting to see whether or not red light cameras reduce red light running. It’s about the fact that Denver has looked at the issues I raised and as a result decided to increase yellows everywhere else. That’s a good thing, and sorry for the self congratulations but everyone does it — even traffic engineers and assistant city attorneys (*cough*) have awards dinners. This is an example of what local newsrooms dig out, and what the city will miss.

]]> By: bloggie http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/2009/03/04/rocky-public-service-lives-on-denver-drivers-will-get-fewer-red-light-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-3010 bloggie Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:32:02 +0000 http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/?p=1455#comment-3010 Kevin, self-congratulation is never flattering. Red light cameras are only 4 or 5 months old in the city. Officials have said all along that they are continuing to study and fine-tune implementation, including putting out an rfp to consider additional vendors. With the cameras there has been an INCREASE in tickets for drivers blocking crosswalks, a significant safety issue. Michael Roberts at Westword blog complained that he got a red light ticket when he didn't even run a red light. He stopped in the crosswalk. This is illegal because it poses a hazard to pedestrians and people in wheelchairs etc. This is an improved-safety angle of the story that you chose not to report. I'm sure you will find some way to pat yourself on the back for that too. Kevin, self-congratulation is never flattering. Red light cameras are only 4 or 5 months old in the city. Officials have said all along that they are continuing to study and fine-tune implementation, including putting out an rfp to consider additional vendors. With the cameras there has been an INCREASE in tickets for drivers blocking crosswalks, a significant safety issue. Michael Roberts at Westword blog complained that he got a red light ticket when he didn’t even run a red light. He stopped in the crosswalk. This is illegal because it poses a hazard to pedestrians and people in wheelchairs etc. This is an improved-safety angle of the story that you chose not to report. I’m sure you will find some way to pat yourself on the back for that too.

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