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. V'l':;:'::M~t7r~";.:!.;I~ .- \I;. ". July 30, 2000 fB) lE CleO WI [S rnlp1 Ifl1 JUL 3 1 2000 UdJ The Honorable Norman Malone City of La Porte P.O. Box 1115 La Porte, TX 77572-1115 CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE 7=/w ~ I<.~ Dear Mayor Malone: Over the last several years we have experienced a significant increase in traffic on our Texas roadways. Similarly, we have also seen a rise In traffic accidents, which resulted In 3,576 fatalities in 1998. One type of traffic accident that has shown to be highly damaging and is one of the highest causes of traffic fatalities in Texas are accidents resulting from red light running. Disregard of traffic signals cause approximately 260,000 accidents annually in the United States and accounts for 22% of all motor vehicle crashes. In Texas red light and stop sign running caused 28,019 accidents in 1998, of which 191 of those were fatal. From 1992 to 1998 Texas experienced 663 deaths resulting from red light running, which ranks fourth in the nation. To better understand the number of red light running violations occurring at intersections experiencing heavy traffic In Texas, the City of Richardson conducted a photographic red light enforcement test site at westbound Campbell Road and US75 in January and February of 1999. We found that one vehicle was running a red light every two minutes during peak periods and every five minutes on an average daily basis. Photographic red light enforcement has been a proven technique for over forty years to address traffic signal disregard. Ten states have enabled cities to utilize this type of enforcement and received positive results. Red light running violations have decreased at intersections with cameras by as much as 60% after one year of operation. Cities have also seen an overall decrease in accidents resulting from red light violations. . Based on the staggering amount of damage caused by traffic signal disregard, the effectiveness of photographic red light enforcement, and the Interest of residents, the Richardson City Council passed a resolution on June 26, 2000 supporting enabling legislation in the 77th Legislature that will allow cities to utilize photographic red light enforcement. We encourage you to join us in this important effort. CQ 0: ~. . E~;\"IllI..:-;}iE~T '{":'l{~' ~'lm:':IlI.l" P.O. Box 830309 Richardson, TX 75083.()309 972-238-4100 Fax 972-238..4219