New Jersey Township Eliminates Red Light Cameras Due to Increased Car Accidents

The Township of Brick, New Jersey has eliminated red light cameras as of February 18.

New Mayor John Ducey says that he’s not convinced that the cameras have made intersections safer.

Ducey has declined to renew the contract with American Traffic Solutions, the company that provides the red light cameras.

Studies have shown that since the program started in 2010, the rates of both rear-end and right-angle accidents have increased by up to 400% in some intersections in the Township.

Three of the Township’s intersections have the cameras.

At one such intersection, accidents jumped from 13 in the year before the cameras were installed to 28 the year after.

Drivers caught on camera running a red light are issued $85 tickets.74,000 of the camera tickets have been issued since the program started in the Township.

Brick is apparently the first New Jersey Township to discontinue the use of the red light cameras.

Other townships and cities have found that the red light cameras do decrease accidents.

For example, the Township of Edison found that the installation of automated right-light cameras there led to a 71% reduction in the number of right-angle collisions at three of the Township’s most dangerous intersections.

Newark reported that red-light cameras led to a 64% drop in car accidents.

However, a preliminary report by the New Jersey Department of Transportation showed that accidents did not fall at all intersections with the cameras. At about one-third of the intersections with the cameras, accidents overall increased slightly.

Across New Jersey, cameras have been installed at 76 intersections in 25 communities. The pilot program is scheduled to end in December.

If you or a family member has suffered an injury in a vehicle accident, contact an experienced personal injury attorney at the New Jersey Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Hasson, P.C.