Globally, the traffic
accidents are ranked ninth among the major causes of mortality and disability. According
to the Global Status Report on Road Safety by World Health Organisation (WHO),
India has the highest number of road accidents in the world with over 130,000
deaths annually. Similarly, here in Kenya, police records on accidents for the last three
years from January to July paints a rather grim picture on how Kenyans are massacred on the roads. For the seven-month period in
2011, 2012 and 2013, a total number of 1,749, 1,719 and 1,741 people died
respectively. Road accident injuries account
for most of the critical cases in Kenyan hospitals. In essence, there are immeasurable economic and
emotional costs to the families of victims, especially those that lose their
bread winners.
Two of the most popular
causes of road accidents are over speeding and non-adherence to the road signs
and traffic lights. In an effort to reduce accidents, the Kenyan government introduced
mobile traffic courts, made of tents on the roadside, in which magistrates penalize
traffic offenders on the spot. Recently, the Nairobi City County Executive Committee member in charge of
Roads, Public works and Transport Evans Ondieki announced that the county
government had mounted traffic cameras that have the capability to capture a
traffic offender’s face and numbers plate when he or she flouts the traffic
rules. The offender will receive a notification of the crime committed and the
consequent fine to be paid. If the fine is not paid within a specified period,
a warrant of arrest is issued. The project has been funded by World Bank at a
cost of Kshs 400 Million and will spread to the residential areas for security
purposes.
In the traffic engineering, the cameras that
have been installed a known as red light cameras. A red light camera is a
traffic enforcement camera that captures an image of a vehicle which has
entered an intersection against a red traffic light. Generally the camera is
triggered when a vehicle enters the intersection after the traffic light has
turned red. Details that may be recorded by the camera system and later
presented to the vehicle owner include the date and time, the location, the
vehicle speed, and the amount of time elapsed since the light turned red and
the vehicle passed into the intersection. The event is captured as a series of
photographs or a video clip, or both, depending on the technology used, which
shows the vehicle before it enters the intersection on a red light signal and
its progress through the intersection. Law enforcement agency would then use
these images as evidence in a court of law.
Despite the obvious dislike of the cameras by most
drivers, there are some actual benefits of red light cameras. With an
overworked police force, the traffic department is definitely one of the
beneficiaries. Another benefit to the police force is that they are able to
locate criminals who for instance are racing from a crime scene. The main
disadvantage of these systems is that there are expensive to deploy and
maintain, and only that you and I have to pay higher taxes. The other one is
that the citizens are under constant watch; this can be dangerous information
if it got to the wrong hands. There are times when the equipment malfunctions
or has significant error margins. Probably, by the time it is discovered you
will have already paid the fine.
In the
US, the red light cameras are common but they have some history in other parts
of the world. Netherlands-based Gatso presented red light cameras to the market
in 1965, and red light cameras were used for traffic enforcement in Israel as
early as 1969. In the early 1970s, red light cameras were used for traffic
enforcement in at least one jurisdiction in Europe. Australia began to use them
on a wide scale in the 1980s. As of July 21, 2010, expansion of red light camera usage in
Australia is ongoing. In some areas of Australia, where the red light cameras
are used, there is an online system to check the photograph taken of your
vehicle if you receive a ticket. Singapore also began use of red light cameras
in the 1980s, and installed the first camera systems during five years,
starting in August 1986. In Canada, by 1998, red light cameras were in use in
British Columbia and due to be implemented in Manitoba. In Alberta, red light
cameras were installed in 1999 in Edmonton and in 2001 in Calgary. The UK first
installed cameras in the 1990s, with the earliest locations including eight
rail crossings in Scotland where there was greatest demand for enforcement of
traffic signals due to fatalities.
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