Red light running represents a severe risk on an intersection, both to drivers and pedestrians. According to a study by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), red light runners cause hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries each year. Only in 2018, 846 people were killed in crashes that involved red light running.
Another report by the University Transportation Center for Alabama points out that estimates indicate that more than 3.8 million crashes occur at intersections each year, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all reported crashes. Of these intersection crashes, 8,500 are fatal (one or more persons killed), and over 1 million results in injuries. Red light running accounted for 92,000 crashes in 1999 resulting in nearly 950 fatalities and 90,000 injuries. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has estimated that the public cost of red light running crashes amounted to over $7 billion in 1998 alone (Hasson, 2000).
As a result of red light running crashes, large numbers of persons are subjected to injury or death. In fact, research has indicated that vehicle occupants are more likely to be injured in red-light running crashes than in most other types of crashes. In one study, occupant injuries occurred in 45 percent of red-light running crashes, compared with 30 percent for other crash types (IIHS, 1993).
Automatic enforcement has proved to be an important support tool to multiply police force, since its impossible for police to be at every intersection. The same IIHS study also found that cameras reduced the fatal red light running crash rate of large cities by 21 percent and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections by 14 percent.
FTA’s Red Light Enforcement System (RLES) is a reliable video-based sensor that automatically records two or more sequenced images when a motor vehicle fails to stop behind the stop bar or clearly marked stop line when facing a traffic control signal steady red light.
It uses the highest digital image processing technology and AI algorithms for installation in a non-intrusive way, making both installation and maintenance easier, faster, and less
expensive. Since RLES sensors are installed without cutting the pavement, installation is faster and without disturbing traffic flow.
This video-detection-only equipment is also standalone, capturing events in an automated way and without any human intervention. RLES vehicle detection uses image recognition techniques, which analyze the vehicle’s position within the capture area, frame by frame. The detected presence of one or more vehicles within each frame is analyzed and processed. The technology also allows us to know the route of each vehicle identified within the camera’s field of view.
RLES has an advanced computer vision vehicle detector and a high-resolution sensitivity camera. Its system allows you to configure video recording length and capture images for a period of 30 uninterrupted days, in addition to 24/7 standalone application and an all-in-one cabinet.
FTA is committed to the mission of helping public agencies to mitigate the harmful effects of reckless driving, including the red light advance, with cutting edge technologies such as RLES. To learn more about this solution, visit this our website.
Signed by the FTA Newsroom based on reports https://www.iihs.org/topics/red-light-running and http://utca.eng.ua.edu/files/2011/08/02112-rpt.pdf