Red light cameras got the green light from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety after the release of a new study. The study found that the red light cameras saved 159 lives between 2004-2008 in 14 of the country’s biggest cities. The study determined that red light cameras operating in all large cities would have prevented an additional 815 deaths. “The cities that have the courage to use red light cameras despite the political backlash are saving lives,” Institute president Adrian Lund said in a news release.

Researchers compared cities with red light camera programs to those without them. They discovered that the 14 cities that had red light camera programs between the years of 2004 and 2008 had a 35% lower crash rate. They believe that red light cameras reduce fatal red light running crashes as well as other fatal intersection crashes. This is partly because drivers may be more cautious when there are cameras around.

More communities are using red light cameras to police intersections. In 2000 there were just 25 cities with the technology in place. Now there are about 500. Some say the cameras don’t boost safety, but the do increase income for municipalities. “Somehow, the people who get tickets because they have broken the law have been cast as the victims,” Lund said in the release. “We rarely hear about the real victims — the people who are killed or injured by these lawbreakers.” In 2009 along, 676 people were killed by red light running and another 113,000 were injured. And more times than not, the people who died were not the ones running the red light. They were drivers, passengers, bicyclists or pedestrians with the right of way.

The biggest drop in fatal crashes at red lights was recorded in Chandler, Arizona. These deaths dropped by 79% after red light cameras were installed. However, in two cities, fatalities actually increased. “We don’t know exactly why the data from Raleigh and Bakersfield didn’t line up with what we found elsewhere,” Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research and a co-author of the study said in a release. “Both cities have expanded geographically over the past two decades, and that probably has a lot to do with it.”

Overall, researchers hope the study proves the importance of red light cameras and that they really can make our roads safer. “Examining a large group of cities over several years allowed us to take a close look at the most serious crashes, the ones that claim people’s lives,” McCartt said in the news release. “Our analysis shows that red light cameras are making intersections safer.”