HOUSTON (AP) _ Documents in an open records lawsuit say the Houston Police Department tried to sway the outcome of a study of red-light cameras installed in Houston.
The controversial city-commissioned study showed traffic accidents doubled at the 50 intersections monitored by 70 cameras in the first year after they were put in.
An e-mail included in the lawsuit indicates an HPD official asked one of the report’s authors in April to rule out accidents if they occurred more than 100 feet from the intersection.
Randall Kallinen, a lawyer who represents ticketed drivers in court, also said that documents he obtained indicated the department attempted to rule out crashes that did not involve a red-light violation.
Either of those steps would be more likely to lead to results showing the cameras reduced crashes, Kallinen said.
HPD’s request was refused by the study’s authors.
Violators photographed running red lights at the intersections get $75 tickets in the mail.
Since September 2006, the traffic cameras have led to at least 400,000 citations and generated more than $21 million in revenue.