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$10,000 Ticket Camera Challenge

May 2002

The NMA knows that engineering solutions are the real way to prevent red-light violations and accidents at problematic intersections. In fact, we are willing to wager $10,000 to prove that engineering will work better than ticket cameras.

The revenue from ticket cameras serves as a reward to cities that fail to make motorists safer through proper signal timing, better signal design, and improved intersections. The apparent increase in red-light violations is largely the result of a 20-year pattern of deliberately changing the standards for the timing of yellow lights. This is an engineering problem, not an enforcement issue. Today we say to the communities that employ ticket cameras, "Let's put traffic engineering solutions to the test."

Here's our challenge:

Show us any camera-equipped intersection that still has high numbers of red-light violations and we will guarantee a minimum 50-percent reduction in red-light violations through the application of engineering solutions.

If our recommendations fail to meet our minimum goal, we will pay the community $10,000 to be used on any traffic safety program or project it chooses. However, if we succeed, the community must employ our engineering-based recommendations at other troublesome intersections and scrap its ticket-camera program.

What do you have to lose, other than your ticket-camera revenue? If you have any questions about this challenge or you believe your community would be interested in participating, please contact the NMA at (608) 849-6000 or via email at nma@motorists.org.