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They've been dark for a year now. Let's make sure they stay that way. File photo. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

It was a rare victory for the people of New Jersey when all the red light cameras were finally shut off last December - just in time for Christmas.



Let us rejoice and give thanks, along with Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, leader of the revolt, that they have remained dark for as long as a year now.



But it is no time to let down our guard. The state is still threatening to bring the cameras back, and reinstitute its government-sponsored shakedown.

RELATED: Will state allow red-light cameras again? DOT still analyzing data



Transportation officials say they have continued to crunch the numbers on data collected last year, and will release a new report in several months. Gov. Chris Christie has said he will wait on this before making a final decision about whether to kill the cameras permanently.



So watch out. Millions are at stake, lobbyists for the camera companies are pushing hard to renew the program, and Moody's has warned that ending it could hurt local governments' revenue streams. There is plenty of reason to be skeptical about any new state analysis of driver safety.

RELATED: Yet another reason to kill the red light cameras



The state Department of Transportation already issued a report based on previous years of red light camera data in New Jersey, which showed that safety improved just as much at intersections that didn't have red light cameras as those that did - telling us nothing about whether red light cameras actually make us safer.





Two grass-roots researchers argued the DOT was actually undercounting the number of crashes at red light camera intersections, because it didn't consider accidents involving pedestrians, vehicles hitting other objects, roll-overs and head-on collisions.



Meanwhile, a huge number of tickets were given out for rolling right turns, a minor infraction. The town of Brick quit the program out of its own volition, despite $830,000 in annual revenue, because the mayor said its red light camera intersections saw an increase in rear end accidents from drivers who feared a ticket and stopped short.



And that's not even counting all the "technical glitches" and tomfoolery: A federal lawsuit initiated by one red light camera victim led to refunds for close to a half-million motorists in New Jersey, because of faulty timing of yellow lights.



As many as 17,000 other tickets had to be thrown out after a computer error. And the head of the outfit running many of our cameras was indicted for paying off officials in Chicago.



Instead of subjecting New Jersey drivers to more of this sloppiness and sleaze, Christie should join O'Scanlon's push to set all yellow lights in the state to the proper time limit, according to the speed of traffic. That alone would make our intersections safer.



But then we'd all have to admit that this is supposed to about safety, not revenue. And for some people in New Jersey, that would not be a happy and prosperous New Year.

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