According to Police Chief Freeman Cooper, the number of traffic fatalities in Chattanooga has declined from 37 in 2006, to 30 in 2007, 28 in 2008, and down to 21 in 2009. This is good news. However, Chief Cooper wants us to believe that the reason for this is the fact that the city started using traffic cameras to catch speeders in July of 2007.

What Chief Cooper conveniently overlooks is that the national fatality rates have dropped each year by a similar percentage.

There are a number of factors usually cited in the national reports that explain the decrease in fatalities. Most prominent among these are the reduced miles driven each year due to the increased cost of fuel. Other factors include increased seat belt use, curtailed impaired driving, safer roads and highways, and maximized vehicle safety. Nowhere in the national numbers are "traffic cameras" listed as a valid reason.

"The city issued 75,472 automated camera citations from 2007-2009."

That's over $3.7 million in tickets and for what? Most likely we would be experiencing similar decreases in fatalities even without the cameras.
Perhaps Chief Cooper could share the numbers for Barton Avenue or the straightaway on Hixson Pike where some of the fixed-speed cameras are installed.

Hey Chief Cooper, your "revenue enhancement" is showing.

Bret Douglas
bretdouglas@live.com

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I would like to respond to Mr. Douglas’s letter regarding Chief Cooper’s fatality statistics since the traffic camera installations in Chattanooga.

First of all Chief Cooper did not say that the reduction was due to the camera installations; he simply said fatality numbers had dropped since their installation. I don’t believe anyone could argue though, that going through the S curves on Hixson Pike is safer since the camera installations.

Mr. Douglas mentioned gas prices; gas prices have fluctuated from simply high to outrageous long before the camera installations. He mentions seatbelts; seatbelts have been mandatory long before the cameras also, at least around here. Auto makers are constantly working to improve safety features on autos, the timing of that has nothing to do with traffic cameras. Traffic and transportation engineers work constantly to make our roads safer, and our police have always tried to curtail impaired driving. The police cannot be everywhere, however. Could the drop in fatalities perhaps be because others cities are implementing the use of traffic cameras also?

In addition, in Chattanooga, the revenue generated by the traffic cameras is used for driver education for students 15 to 18, who incidentally, are not able to get this instruction on school. They pay a nominal fee of $50 and the city picks up the rest of the cost for them to take the five week Haman’s New Drivers Course. This not only gives them quality, professional driving instruction, but the parents almost always get a reduction in their auto insurance premiums. The optimum result should be plummeting fatality rates because there will be better trained, more conscientious young drivers traveling our roads.

Becky B. Roberts
Beckeroo50@gmail.com

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I heard the report on the news as well about a drop in wrecks etc.

Except I heard it on the national news at home. Then I heard it on the national news on my satellite radio in the car, not local, and then I heard about Chief Cooper's story using similar statistics on a local radio newscast which was followed up by another national news story about the nationwide drop.

And yes, all of the national reports cited a change in driver habits due to gas prices. Not one of the national outlets mentioned cameras.

And of course no one likes car wrecks when people are killed or even injured. You can ask members of my family how this affects people.

It's a classic PR move: take a positive statistic and make it work for your local public information efforts to help make an unpopular campaign look better. That way you can share in the credit. Nothing new here, its PR 101. It's just that today people have more instant ways to fact check a story put out by our local leaders.

Kent Whitaker
East Ridge