What amounts to a behaviour modification program for Calgarians has resulted in a decrease in intersection collisions, according to a Calgary police-commissioned study.
Calgary police released numbers yesterday gathered by Synectics Transportation Consultants that stated since red light cameras were introduced in 2001, right-angle crashes have dropped by 48.2 per cent.
More interesting, there has been a 39.6 per cent decrease in rear-end collisions, results that differ from other studies, according to safety manager for Synectics Brian Malone.
“I think we were a bit surprised because it’s unique … but it’s very nice to see. It shows the cameras are doing what they were supposed to do,” Malone said, adding the study was conducted from six years of traffic data.
Malone said he believes the results are different in Calgary because the study was taken over a longer period of time than other studies, and shows that drivers have slowly started changing their behaviours.
“People know they have to stop at red lights and they know that the person in front of them is probably going to stop, too,” he added. “It’s a learned process.”
The numbers were taken from a before-and-after study of the intersections with red light cameras as well as other city intersections.
Calgary police Sgt. Clive Marsh said they are very happy with the results of the study.
“It’s working. It’s saving lives. It’s creating awareness and safe intersections,” Marsh said.
“Calgary drivers have accepted and adopted red light cameras into their lives.”
