Worcester Traffic Cameras

Worcester Drivers Ignore Traffic Lights

There is a little known secret here in Worcester about traffic lights. If you are driving around you will notice that many lights have cameras, especially at major intersections. You will also notice quite often that drivers will completely ignore red lights and drive right through with no hesitation almost as if the camera were not able to see them. For a while I was really perplexed. 

It turns out the cameras don't work! A few years ago the city realized that it's drivers ignored road rules and so decided to pay a company to install these lights. The idea was that the camera would capture offenders and they would be issued moving violation citations. Great idea except that city voters quietly voted against the cameras after they were installed. So now lights have cameras but they don't do anything! People who don't know this or who aren't from Worcester have a tendency to pay more attention to their driving because the cameras scare them. But it explains why Worcester residents in the know drive right through red lights.

I'm not saying that this is a good thing! First of all, running lights is dangerous. We have lights so that people do not cause accidents. Whether or not you will get caught it is not safe to drive through red lights. Turning on the cameras would increase the likelihood that drivers would obey traffic signals and could reduce accidents and injuries.

Another reason to turn on the lights is simply budgetary. It was essentially wasted money to install cameras that won't be used, but if they were used the city could generate some extra cash from increased citations. The money could be put towards improving the conditions of the city's roads which seems to be in a constant state of disrepair.