Do the cameras cause rear-enders as people try to brake and avoid running a red light?
“Red light cameras don’t cause rear-end collisions, drivers cause rear-end collisions,” said Shoba Vaitheeswaran, Redflex spokeswoman. “It’s probably because you are following too close and going too fast.” Napa police report just one rear-end collision since May at the city’s first two red-light camera intersections. Has Napa shortened yellow phases to nab more violators? Police have added a tenth of a second to the yellow lights at First and Jefferson streets, Trancas Street and Big Ranch Road, and Soscol and Imola avenues, Napa Police Sgt. Tom Pieper reported. Yellow phases are longer today than they were before cameras were installed, he said. Are the cameras just cash cows for cities? “They reduce accidents; they act as a deterrent,” said Vaitheeswaran. “Does it increase revenue for a city? It could. Revenue doesn’t come at the expense of safety. There is a safety benefit that is tangible.” According to Napa police, the city’s first two camera intersections produced $147,000 in re
