Wisconsin legislators are attempting to implement red light cameras in Milwaukee at intersections to automatically ticket drivers for excessive speeding. This will do far more harm than good for Milwaukee, as drivers may behave in ways that are erratic, simply shifting the recklessness from one accident-causing behavior to another.
If Milwaukee wants to reduce reckless driving and pedestrian accidents, more effective measures can be taken.
Recently, a law was proposed on the Wisconsin senate floor to install 75 red light cameras — five in each of Milwaukee’s 15 aldermanic districts. The goal of this legislation is to prevent reckless driving, make future accidents less severe and protect pedestrians.
The preventative action involves penalizing drivers going 15 miles per hour or more, with fines reaching $100. While this bill has a lot of public support, many are skeptical about the actual impacts of this legislation.
Red light cameras will not prevent reckless driving. According to a Department of Transportation study, minimal change was found before and after red light camera installation, revealing that accidents still occur, just in different ways.
Rather than T-bone or angular accidents, red light cameras increase rear-end collisions. They also increase aggressive driving and often unpredictable behavior.
Instead of passing through yellow lights, the study finds that drivers tend to slam on their brakes to avoid an automatic ticket. This becomes a vicious cycle of behavior influencing driving and vice versa.
These fines are also applied automatically to a driver and would be linked to plates rather than licenses, impacting the owner of the car rather than the person speeding. Parent-owned vehicles that are stolen, borrowed or driven by children will not be ticketed properly.
With only one form of administrative due process, traffic court, car owners will likely have to fight retroactively to remove fines from their record. This process is tedious and expensive, something that will negatively impact low-income drivers.
The Urban Institute suggests that the implementation of fines does little to change behavior, sometimes even increasing it.
Many accidents involving pedestrians happen during non-intersection crossings, often when visibility is impaired in some way — on the fault of the driver, alcohol consumption or general distracted driving. This is true of Milwaukee and nationwide.
In Wisconsin, there were 7,102 operating while intoxicated related accidents in 2024. This figure only includes drivers. These individuals should be the ones targeted with legislation and penalization.
Arguments in support of red light cameras include the time drivers have to stop. If a pedestrian makes an unauthorized crossing, driving slower allows for more time to stop. However, other factors can improve this aside from red light cameras.
When taking speed into consideration, many Milwaukee roads do not align with the statistics. Most pedestrian deaths occur at urban-high speed intersections, with postings between 45 and 55 miles per hour.
This primarily applies to arterial roads in Milwaukee County, where many of these accidents are caused by unsafe crossing areas and poor lighting infrastructure rather than speed. This is where the city needs to focus their resources.
Rather than investing in red light cameras in Milwaukee, the city should develop public infrastructure to improve the lives of pedestrians that do not cause other kinds of erratic driving.
If we want to reduce speeds, Milwaukee must brighten streets, add more safe crossings and advocating for harsher drunk driving penalties.
Red light cameras will not lower speeding. In the end, they will make driving habits worse.
This article was written by Lexi Childers. She can be reached at [email protected].
