You asked whether Connecticut has conducted any studies on the legibility of its license plate design. You also requested information on red light camera systems, which take photos, for law enforcement purposes, of vehicles running red lights.

LICENSE PLATE LEGIBILITY

There have been no studies on the legibility of the current Connecticut license plate design since the new design went into effect, according to Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) staff. As described in OLR Report 2000-R-0045, the proposal for replacing the old design of partially reflectorized license plates with fully reflectorized plates came from a task force required by PA 98-182. That task force consisted of the commissioners of the Motor Vehicles, Corrections, and Public Safety departments, the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, and a representative of the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association, a police trooper organization, and a driving safety advocacy group, all appointed by the DMV commissioner. In considering the license plate reissue, the task force had to examine the benefits of using fully reflectorized plates, including the potential reduction in unregistered and uninsured vehicles.

The task force reviewed several studies of license plate design. A 1980 study by Utah State University found that fully reflectorized plates were 23% more legible than partially reflectorized plates. A 1992 study by the Ohio University found that 81% of test subjects could correctly read fully reflectorized plates in the rain at a distance of 75 feet. In contrast, only 42% of the test subjects could correctly read partially reflectorized plates under these conditions. The task force also reviewed several studies that found that using fully reflectorized plates increased the visibility of parked vehicles at night, thereby decreasing the number of accidents involving such vehicles.

The task force submitted its report on January 1, 1999. It recommended that partially reflectorized plates be replaced with fully reflectorized plates. Among the arguments it made were that fully reflectorized plates would (1) facilitate the identification of vehicles by law enforcement officers and (2) increase public safety by making parked, disabled, and one-headlight vehicles easier to see and avoid at night. The legislature passed legislation implementing the recommendations in 1999 (PA 99-1, June Special Session) and implementation began in 2000.

RED LIGHT CAMERAS

We have enclosed (1) OLR Report 2004-R-0540, which provides information on the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws at signalized intersections, including how many states use such systems, the due process issues the systems raise, and the results of using the systems; and (2) report 2001-R-0403, which summarizes a Transportation Research Board study on the effectiveness of the systems and provides a list of vendors. We have also enclosed an article describing how the systems operate from the webpage www. howstuffworks. com.

In addition, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has published a report providing operational guidelines for red light camera systems. According to the report, the studies on the safety impacts of red light camera systems generally find that they improve the overall safety of intersections where they are used. Similarly, FHWA notes, a recent study of systems in seven jurisdictions throughout the US confirmed that these systems are likely to reduce right-angle crashes but can increase rear-end crashes. The systems were found to provide an economic benefit of $ 28,000 to $ 50,000 at the sites with the system when considering the economic cost of crashes by crash type. The report is available at http: //safety. fhwa. dot. gov/intersections/rlc_guide/ch1. htm.

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