Red light cameras at Yonkers intersections have yielded a spike in crashes in the city of hills according to a study released by AAA Northeast this week
Are drivers stopping too soon?
Some residents are complaining and saying,”Don’t drive through the yellow lights at all, just stop. Even if you’ve got to brake hard, just stop, because it’s pulling money out of people’s pockets unfairly,”
AAA said it analyzed red light camera data from Albany, Long Island, Mount Vernon, New York City, and Yonkers.
AAA Northeast, a nonprofit organization with nearly six million members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
The organization recommended the New York State Department of Transportation oversee local automated enforcement programs, and revenue from red light camera programs be put toward traffic safety initiatives.
The group also advised municipalities to post their reports online and on time, notify the public when new cameras are to be installed, and slap penalties on municipalities that fail to follow state laws requiring reports be completed.
According to local and state FOIL requests, AAA found that Mount Vernon has not filed any reports since the beginning of their red-light program in 2014, which violates state requirements and makes analysis of the cameras’ performance impossible.
The latest AAA study said there have been no engineering studies in Yonkers to figure out the cause of the rise in red light camera crashes that give drivers less than three seconds to stop and increase local insurance rates. .
Many Yonkers residents think the city should reevaluate areas with camera placement and commission an analysis as a response to a rise in red light camera crashes.
AAA is calling for more state oversight to make sure they are improving safety and are not cash grabs.
But Yonkers’ program is not without some support.
There are residents who think that there are a lot of crazy drivers out there and red light cameras help keep residents safe.
The city of Yonkers is standing by its red light camera program with no plans to change it for now.
The city of Yonkers makes million from the red light camera program.
The city says the money goes into its general fund.