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Report: High-Speed Drivers Fewer: Since Speed-Enforcement Cameras Installed, 30,000 Tickets Issued

Posted on: Saturday, 17 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Kytja Weir, The Charlotte Observer, N.C., The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Dec. 17--The fear of a $50 ticket in the mail appears to have slowed Charlotte's leadfoots and helped reduce crashes, according to a new report about the city's speed enforcement cameras.

The city has been using the cameras since August 2004, positioning them inside vans parked along 14 corridors considered among the city's most dangerous roadways.

As speeders zoom by, the cameras photograph their license plates. The vehicle's owner then receives a $50 citation in the mail -- but no points jacking up insurance rates.

The cameras faced an initial hiccup when some nighttime photos looked fuzzy. But with a quick adjustment, they have yielded more than 30,000 tickets.

They've even caught a few Charlotte-Mecklenburg cops cruising too fast. And they've inspired one entrepreneur to hawk a spray that purportedly obscures license numbers. (Observer tests show it doesn't work.)

But the cameras also appear to have met a loftier goal, says N.C. State University's Institute for Transportation Research and Education.

The percentage of vehicles zipping 10 mph or more above the speed limit dropped an average of 55 percent, according to a summary of the institute's study released to the City Council on Friday.

The researchers also credit the cameras with reducing overall collisions by 12 percent -- and in the most heavily enforced spots, by as much as 14 percent.

The N.C. Governors Highway Safety Program funded the study, one of at least three commissioned to evaluate Charlotte's SafeSpeed program.

The researchers warned that their report has limitations: Their data cover only a short period, and they say media attention about the cameras might have played a role in the results.

But, they wrote, they encourage other agencies to consider adding cameras to their streets.

Cameras Watching You

The speed cameras aren't the only cameras watching you on local streets.

Authorities use cameras to spot wrecks on busy routes such as Interstate 77. Some cameras trigger when a traffic signal should change to green. In uptown, police use them for security. Then there are red-light cameras that catch those trying to beat the lights. And, of course, there are the speed cams.

Kytja Weir: (704) 358-5934

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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