No need to rush red-light camera decisions

With the effectiveness of red-light cameras still being studied, it makes sense to first consider less costly traffic-safety measures.

Gov. Corbett signed a law last week that reauthorized cameras at nearly two-dozen city intersections, where motorists have been hit with about $50 million in fines since 2005. The same legislation allows a dozen communities in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties to apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for permission to set up red-light cameras.

Suburban motorists, thankfully, have a few months' grace before their municipalities can seek the state's approval to participate in the program. That gives the towns more time to evaluate whether the cameras really make sense for their communities.

There's good reason to tap the brakes, at least. An Inquirer analysis late last year found that accidents actually had increased at most of the intersections monitored by camera under a program operated by the Philadelphia Parking Authority. PHA officials quickly disputed the figures.

A study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council concluded that it's "too close to call" whether red-light cameras reduce injury accidents.

Meanwhile in South Jersey, motorists are challenging the reliability of the red-light cameras being used in the state's five-year pilot program. And the state Department of Transportation has suspended use of the cameras in four towns in Camden and Gloucester Counties because their traffic lights' yellow signals aren't properly calibrated.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group warns that red-light cameras may be mostly a revenue scheme for needy towns. Certainly, if other methods can do as well or better to reduce accidents and save lives, they should be tried before spending money on technology still being tested.