It’s not unexpected that the speeders and red light runners in Oak Ridge Tennessee are hot and bothered about the new traffic cameras and this past Thursday they got their opportunity to go to court and fight their digitally generated tickets. When faced with the video replay of their speeding and red light running ways, they quickly paid up and left the courthouse lighter in the wallet but hopefully fuller in the knowledge that the days of speeding and running red lights in Oak Ridge have come to an end.

Saves Lives and Reduces Injuries

There’s a new Sheriff in town and the new sheriff’s name is Red Flex Inc. a private contractor with the city that has installed, at their own expense, state of the art digital camera systems at several key intersections. As noted in an segment on Knoxville TV station WATE channel 6, ” The cameras have been pumping out thousands of citations since the first ones went online over the summer.”

Most of the Oak Ridger’s complaints center around the amount of the money generated by the cameras.  Red Flex has created a crackerjack system of identifying speeders and red light runners, distributing tickets and collecting the fines which it splits with the city. The main purpose of the system is to reduce deaths and serious injuries. Statistic from other cities around the world show that deaths and serious injuries are greatly reduced by the use of this technology.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes-approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. The two main factors of these accidents is those who speed through intersections and those who run red lights. This is significant to say the least. And the proof will take months to a year before the accident reduction statistics are in but my hat is off to the Oak Ridge representatives for showing far thinking leadership in trying to protect their citizen’s lives and property.

If you or a loved one is injured by a speeder or red light runner contact the experienced Nashville injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates to find out about your right sand remedies.

For those of you follow my blog you know that we have been monitoring the proliferation of digital camera enforcement technology for red light runners (RLRs) and intersection speeders. For our purposes we have been following events at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Beginning in June of this year the City began installing the cameras at strategically located intersection in an effort to reduce traffic deaths and injures from speeders and those who ignore the red light signals. In my last blog I gave the up-to-date numbers of citations issued and the majority of them were for speeding as opposed to red light running.

Speeding Cops Pay The Fine

Last Friday was an important point in the ongoing saga of Oak Ridge’s effort. Friday was the first day during which an aggrieved citation receiver could appeal to the General Sessions Court to have their tickets overturned. The final toll has not be tallied but it appears that most of the speeders and red light runners who have given notice that they intend to appeal have gone ahead and paid the fine. In an interesting aside, it appears that the cameras have put the long arm of the law on, guess who? If you guessed police officers you win a cigar, yes sir, the cameras cited four Oak Ridge police officers, including one officer who was nabbed twice for speeding through the intersection. Each of the officers paid the $50.00 fine out of their own pockets.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee intersection accident we urge you to contact our Nashville car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer.