title: To brake or to accelerate? Safety effects of combined speed and red light cameras.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study evaluates the traffic safety effect of combined speed and red light cameras at 253 signalized intersections in Flanders, Belgium that were installed between 2002 and 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  The adopted approach is a before-and-after study with control for the trend.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analyses showed a non-significant increase of 5% in the number of injury crashes. An almost significant decrease of 14% was found for the more severe crashes. The number of rear-end crashes turned out to have increased significantly (+44%), whereas a non-significant decrease (-6%) was found in the number of side crashes. The decrease for the severe crashes was mainly attributable to the effect on side crashes, for which a significant decrease of 24% was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is concluded that combined speed and red light cameras have a favorable effect on traffic safety, in particular on severe crashes. However, future research should examine the circumstances of rear-end crashes and how this increase can be managed.
authors.affiliation: Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 5, BE-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: ellen.depauw@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Pauw
authors.affiliation: Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 5, BE-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: stijn.daniels@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Stijn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.affiliation: Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 5, BE-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: elke.hermans@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brijs
authors.affiliation: Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 5, BE-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: tom.brijs@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.affiliation: Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 5, BE-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: geert.wets@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wets
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000145:classification / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000639:trends; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement / Q000379:methods; D010781:Photography / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012449:Safety / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Before-and-after study; Effectiveness; Rear-end crash; Side crash; Speed and red light camera