12 November 2002: A substantial improvement in accident rates at red light junctions if they have permanent camera surveillance has been recorded in tests in California.

The study was carried by the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the City of Oxnard, one of the first communities to use the system.

Overall, crashes at the intersections were reduced by 7 per cent and injury crashes were reduced by 29 per cent. Right-angle crashes, those most common in red light-running, were reduced by almost a third, while right-angle crashes involving injuries were reduced by more than two-thirds.

The researchers concluded that crash reductions attributed to the system should be sustainable, because red light cameras can be a permanent system.