Red-Light Cameras & Traffic Safety on Lancaster Avenue

In July, Lower Merion officials approved the installation of red light cameras at select intersections along Lancaster Avenue that have seen high rates of aggressive driving. While the full project will eventually place cameras at multiple intersections along Lancaster Avenue, including Haverford Station Road, the pilot phase will begin with a single set of cameras at Lancaster Avenue and Remington Road. As of mid-November, installation has yet to begin.

In 2024, the combined Montgomery–Delaware County area saw an astonishing 12,266 reported traffic accidents, 70 of which involved at least one fatality. A hotspot of such activity is U.S. Route 30, known on the Main Line as Lancaster Avenue. This may not come as a surprise to Haverford students, who have no doubt witnessed reckless driving around campus. In fact, according to Campus Safety weekly reports, a Haverford student’s knee was dislocated after they were struck in a hit-and-run earlier this year while crossing Lancaster Avenue in front of CVS. In addition to forming the northern border of Haverford’s campus, Lancaster Avenue bisects Villanova’s campus, runs along the edge of Bryn Mawr’s campus, and serves as the main shopping street of Ardmore. As such an important pedestrian and automotive resource, Lancaster Avenue’s safety is of the utmost importance. As such, it’s worrying that Lancaster Avenue is also a hub of aggressive driving.

A study released this spring by the Sensys-Gatso Group—presented in a briefing by the Lower Merion Police—found that the intersection between Haverford Station Road and Lancaster Avenue saw 339 red light violations in a 24-hour period. Collisions related to red light violations often take the form of “T-bone” crashes, which are among the most dangerous types of crashes, occurring when two vehicles collide at perpendicular angles.

Although red light cameras may help, they represent only a partial solution for a larger traffic safety issue facing Lower Merion and the surrounding areas. To the township’s credit, the installation of these cameras is part of a broader initiative to improve traffic safety. Another program equipped all of Lower Merion’s school buses with cameras to document drivers who illegally pass school buses as they pick up or drop off students.

These measures may discourage some of the most egregious violations, but they do not address deeper questions about how the corridor is designed and whom it prioritizes. Lancaster Avenue remains one of the most important roads on the Main Line, yet also one of the least forgiving. Nonetheless, this should come as a promising development for the many Haverford students who walk, bike, and drive on Lancaster Avenue every day, particularly if Lower Merion Township decides to expand the program past the pilot phase.