Safety Effect of Officer Enforcement Programs that Target Red Light Violations

Abstract

This paper examines the effectiveness of a citywide targeted enforcement program implemented in eight cities. In this program, enforcement agencies focused on intersection traffic control violations and used a heightened level of enforcement relative to that otherwise employed. The program was sustained for a period that ranged from several months to 2 years and was coupled with a public awareness campaign. The results of the analysis revealed that crashes related to red light running were reduced by 6.4% during program implementation. An analysis of program benefits and costs indicated that it had a benefit–cost ratio of 12:1. The effectiveness of this type of officer enforcement program was found to be similar to that of camera (or automated) enforcement.

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