Red light cameras installed at a pair of intersections in Avondale, Arizona failed to yield any accident reduction after the end of a one-year trial period. Avondale Police Chief Kevin Kotsur provided an update to the city council last month that showed accidents had increased fifty percent in the final quarter of the trial compared with the first.

Although it is difficult to measure complex road safety effects over the short period that ran between May 1, 2006 and April 30, 2007, the "trial" did not deliver the immediate impact that city leaders had promised. At the intersection of Dysart and McDowell Roads, the first quarter saw three accidents. In the fourth quarter, that figure doubled to six. At Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, five accidents at the beginning of the year increased to six. These results are consistent with a long-term Virginia Department of Transportation report released last week and the findings of a number of independent studies conducted over the past decade.

Despite the results, city council members declared the trial a success and voted to continue the program. Camera vendor ATS was able to issue 5044 citations worth $706,160. About one-half of all citations issued were given to motorists making right-hand turns on red.

The full text of the report is available in a 144k PDF file at the source link below.