Accident Rate Jumps at Red-Light Camera Intersections

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Rear-end collisions more than doubled and accidents increased overall in the first 70 days of red-light cameras in West Palm Beach compared to the same period of 2009, traffic records reviewed by The Palm Beach Post show.

West Palm Beach issued 2,675 camera fines worth a third of a million dollars in March alone, reported The Post.

But at the three city intersections from Feb. 21, when fines began, through May 1, The Post found rear-end collisions increased from two to five and overall accidents increased from six to seven.

The only injury in either period came under cameras, in a rear-end crash in March 2010. The injury was "non-incapacitating," according to records supplied by cities and compiled in Palm Beach County's accident database.

City officials did not dispute the data, but said a larger sample size is needed to make any determinations about the program's effect on accidents, reported The Post. View the full story.