Orlando Personal Injury Lawyer Supports Red-Light Camera Law

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on February 22, 2011

In 2010, Florida lawmakers passed a controversial law that allows cameras posted on many traffic signals to photograph drivers who run red lights. Pedestrian safety advocates had pressured legislators for nearly eight years to pass the law and make Florida intersections safer for everyone. However, one South Florida State Senator, Republican Rene Garcia, has introduced a bill that would repeal the law. His bill proposes removal of all cameras posted on traffic signals on state roads by July 2011 and would make at least 50 local governments vulnerable to litigation from attorneys representing drivers who ran red lights and received tickets.

These red-light cameras have been proven over and over to be very effective for saving lives. A report issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claimed that these cameras saved at least 159 lives in the country’s 14 largest cities from 2004 to 2008. The Institute also claims that if red-light cameras had been installed in all U.S. cities with populations over 200,000, the deaths of 815 people killed in pedestrian accidents could have been prevented.

Orlando has been a trendsetter on this issue. City administrators grew impatient waiting for Florida legislators to pass the red-light camera law, so they placed 10 red-light cameras at 10 of our city’s busiest intersections in 2008. The results were impressive. Accidents at these intersections dropped by a third the first year, and rear-end collisions dropped 20 percent. These results refuted critics of the cameras who claimed that rear-end collisions at the intersections would soar as drivers braked hard to avoid getting tickets.

Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham enthusiastically supports this new law and believes that anything that makes our state safer for pedestrians is a step in the right direction. Florida leads the country each year in total number of pedestrian accidents as well as numbers of people injured and killed in these accidents. While we’ve made great progress, our state remains a dangerous place for pedestrians. When struck and injured by a negligent driver, many seek the counsel of an experienced Orlando personal injury lawyer such as Mr. Cunningham. Have you or a close family member suffered injury in a pedestrian accident? Call James O. Cunningham today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000 to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case and explore your legal options.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.