Cleveland Red Light Cameras Coming Down

Another town is calling it quits on red light cameras.  Cleveland will stop using theirs by the end of next month after receiving a note from Traffipax, Inc. who operates the cameras.

All though they were just installed 16 months ago, Cleveland's red light cameras are coming down.  Drivers are split on the decision.  "I think everybody's just scared of it but I don't think it's really working," says Tyler Hall.    "I like them if the yellow light stays like it's supposed to" says Linda Nicholson.

Cleveland city leaders say the camera company contacted them saying they apparently weren't bringing in enough money to make them worth operating.  And even though the September 2008 date of installation is still stamped on the back, some say it's about time.  "I just think it was a waste of money," says Hall.  "I mean the cops sit around and get all the tickets.  I don't really think the cameras are doing anything to make any more money for Cleveland."

Four of the five cameras are somewhere along Keith Street.  The one at Keith and the Paul Huff Parkway saw the most significant decrease in wrecks, from 59 in 2008 to just 20 last year.  But it was a mixed bag of results at the other intersections.   At 25th and Keith, collisions were cut in half from 46 accidents to 23.  Five blocks away at 20th and Keith, wrecks dropped from 7 to 4.  But the corner of 25th and Peerless saw just one less wreck and at Raider and Keith accidents actually doubled from 5 to 10.

But for many, the fear is that once the cameras are gone the wrecks will return.  "If they take them down I think there will be a lot more wrecks," says Ruby Armstrong.  "Because people run the yellow lights and that's when those cars just smacks them."

That remains to be seen.  An answer won't come until after March 31st when the cameras are due to be turned off by and drivers are left to police themselves once again.

Meanwhile, Tennessee lawmakers recently put a statewide stop to any new red light cameras for two years while a group studies their effect and legality.