STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: A new study shows drivers in one California town may be slowing down and driving safely for the sake of the camera. Tonight in our "Solution Seekers" report, Kathleen Koch explains how the effort to keep an eye on drivers seems to be working.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Instead of gone in a flash, red light runners are caught by the flash and cameras positioned in nearly 50 communities around the country. Now, the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety has found the cameras also reduce accidents.</s>SUSAN FERGUSON, INSURANCE INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: We saw about a 30 percent reduction in injury crashes of all kinds and about a 70 percent reduction in injury crashes of front into side, which are those that are more typical of red light runners.</s>KOCH: The institute studied crash data in Oxnard, California, where cameras were installed in 1997. It says accidents overall dropped 7 percent. So this is the main camera, the position behind us?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that is the main, the camera, and the flash is actually offset.</s>KOCH: Arlington County, Virginia, installed red light cameras in 1998. They've seen a similar drop in overall crashes of about 10 percent.</s>CAPT. ROY AUSTIN, ARLINGTON CO. POLICE: There has been a decrease in the number of accidents, not only at the intersections where we have our red lights cameras, but also at the intersections in the vicinity of these locations.</s>KOCH: Every year, more than 800 people die and an estimated 200,000 are injured nationwide in crashes that involve red light- running, some wrecks caught on red light cameras. Still, some oppose the cameras on the basis of privacy, saying it's tantamount to big brother watching drivers' every move. For police, the response is simple.</s>AUSTIN: You don't have a right to violate a law.</s>KOCH: It's unclear whether the accident decreases the insurance institute found in Oxnard would occur in other cities. Still, it believes the data is valuable. Catching violators and potentially saving lives. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
Traffic Light Cameras Help Reduce Accidents, Study Finds