DelDOT video explains red-light safety camera program

DelDOT has posted a link to a new video on its website, www.deldot.gov, explaining how Delaware’s red-light safety camera program works and why it is effective in changing driver behavior and reducing crashes. The video also explains how intersections are selected for red-light cameras.

The video can also be accessed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NCEnZ25ATI&feature=youtu.be

DelDOT has seen measurable safety improvements at the state’s most dangerous intersections since the Electronic Red Light Safety Program was implemented in 2004. Red-light running crashes are down 29 percent and dangerous T-bone crashes have decreased by 47 percent since the cameras became active. A 22 percent reduction in the number of citations issued to drivers is further evidence that motorists are changing their behavior and stopping on red.

Featured in the video is DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt, who comments on the camera program’s performance saying, “The data has shown that the red-light cameras have helped us reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries at our intersections.”

Viewers will see how the Electronic Red Light Safety Program works including the integral role law enforcement plays in reviewing the violation video and license plate images prior to a citation being issued.

Red-light safety cameras are in use at 30 intersections in Delaware.  Photo enforcement is used in New Castle and Sussex counties, as well as the cities of Dover, Newark, Seaford and the town of Elsmere. Red-light safety cameras operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When a driver enters the intersection after the light turns red, the camera captures two still images and a 12-second video of the event.

Also in the video, DelDOT chief traffic engineer Mark Luszcz, explains how the locations of cameras are determined. Photo enforcement cameras are installed, he says, only after all available engineering changes that could make an intersection safer are given full consideration. “We want to do everything else first before we get to that step,” he adds.

For more information about DelDOT’s Electronic red Light Safety Program go to www.deldot.gov/information/red_light.