Stop the lights!

A ROAD traffic accident researcher has claimed a new automated red light camera system launched in a blaze of publicity last month is flawed and will lead to drivers incorrectly receiving mandatory penalty points.

The new system at the junction of Blackhall Place and the Luas Red Line in Dublin 7 was launched by Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe, and it’s directly linked to An Garda Siochána’s computerised PULSE system.

That means the process of issuing fixed charge notices will now be fully automated, so drivers who break the lights will incur a

?¬120 fine as well as three penalty points, and the only witness will be a camera.

However, former garda, Frank Cullinane, says the amber light time of three seconds combined with the 50km/h speed limit makes it almost impossible to keep within the law.

“The speed limit and the amber light time are both incorrect so I’m asking Minister Donohoe to rectify this,

? he said.

“A time of five seconds, or a distance of 35 metres, is required to brake to a stop normally from 50 km/h.

?

Cullinane, who now works as a driving instructor, says Rules of the Road braking distances are still based on an out-dated and incorrect stopping formula created decades ago.

“That’s the root cause of setting amber light times that aren’t long enough,

? he said.

The safety campaigner also says some of traffic lights at Blackhall Place are placed too high at some 8 metres high, making them harder to see the closer drivers get to them, and the view is also often blocked by buses in the bus lane.

During a recent visit to the new system Cullinane captured on video a Luas breaking a red light and a car narrowly missing a tram as it appears not to see the red light.

Cullinane is not alone in his findings as amber light timings are a source of controversy in other countries. In North Carolina in the USA research found that the timings for lights were designed for cars simply driving straight and didn’t leave enough time for those turning at junctions.

“The rules on braking, amber light time and speed limits are incorrect worldwide,

? Cullinane said.

Cullinane believes new rules should be based on VBOX, a satellite controlled, calibrated time and distance measuring device that’s accurate to within 3cm.

“I was watching Top Gear one night and I saw this particular machine and it’s absolutely brilliant, it leaves no hiding place for drivers,

? he said.

Using VBOX Cullinane was able to work out precise stopping distances from 1km/h to 100km/h and he realised the official formula currently used was wrong.

“The Highway Code Stopping Distances formula that is used by all the authorities have been around since 1946 and that’s really the root cause of the problem, but nobody will accept it,

? he said.

Cullinane has also researched the traffic lights at the centre of Ballymun Town, which are a source of frustration for many local drivers.

“The stop line there is 42 metres back from the junction,

? he said.

“In the Rules of the Road braking distance is 15 metres from 50km/h. It’s an impossibility.

“If you stop from 50km/h in 15 metres you’ll put your passengers out through the windscreen. You cannot stop at that junction in Ballymun safely. The lights are badly designed and the timing isn’t long enough.

?