Despite rising death tolls for pedestrians, cities around the country are getting rid of red light cameras. New York City will be next.
Around the country, red light cameras are turning off. Between 2012 and 2016, the number of red light cameras fell by a fifth according to numbers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). At the same time, "The IIHS reports that 811 people were killed in crashes caused by red light runners nationwide in 2016, an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous four-year average," writes Angie Schmidtt.
There's more bad news coming for pedestrians, 140 speed cameras in New York City school zones will be turned off this week.
These devices are going offline at a time when pedestrian fatalities are going up around the United States. The fatality numbers from red light runners may also be getting pushed up by the increasing prevalence of SUVs, which are more deadly to pedestrians.
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