Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Red Light Cameras Are Dangerous

This Techdirt article says:
How many studies showing that red light cameras increase accidents does it take? Yet another study, this one from Ontario, Canada, represents the fourth major report concluding that there's an increase, not decrease in accidents where the technology is used. The control group in this study outperformed the camera intersections in every single category. Overall, fatal and injury rear-end collisions jumped 5%. In other words, red light cameras can kill. It's about time that the cameras are recognized for what they are -- a money-making scam.
People always claim to be surprised when some safety measure turns out to cause more accidents than it saves. They refuse to consider adverse ramifications of some do-gooder measure.

There is also a serious safety debate about where car drivers should hold their hands on the steering wheel. Conventional wisdom has always been that the 10 and 2 o'clock positions are best. Now some people recommend the 8-and-4 technique because they say that you'll be safer in case the airbag inflates. Another view is that it is best to just keep one hand on the wheel.

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