An increased number of Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers on state highways has resulted in increased enforcement in the past few years. Accordingly, DPS has seen a steady decrease in collision numbers statewide, the DPS said in a statement. Since the expansion of the Photo Enforcement Program, collisions have been further reduced below the trend of the last few years.
Additional reductions occurred during the first 80 days of the expanded photo enforcement program. Property crashes have been reduced by 12%, injury crashes by 17% and fatality collisions by 29%. The DPS attributed these reductions to photo enforcement because the actual number of crashes was lower than what was expected based on prior 2008 trends.
These are preliminary numbers based on a comparison of collisions on the metro Phoenix freeway system from Sept. 26, 2007, to Dec. 16, 2007, which takes in approximately 80 days.
Another reason for fewer crashes is that fewer drivers were on the road in Maricopa County, the Arizona Republic reported. Six percent fewer drivers, or 10,000 fewer per day, on some stretches of highway, according to Arizona DOT statistics.
Opponents of the photo enforcement program say it is simply a revenue stream for state agencies. In fact, the system brought in more than $1.5 million during the 80-day period cited by the DPS, $150,000 of which went to Redflex, the company that installed and operates the camera system, and the rest to the state Photo Enforcement Fund to be appropriated by the legislature. The system issued more than 74,000 citations during the period, according to the Arizona Republic, and drivers paid more than 8,300 of those tickets.
Newly elected Sheriff Paul Babeu in Pinal County is opposed to the speed cameras, and Redflex has agreed to discontinue the program in Pinal County at the beginning of 2009.
