HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Tonight, Local 2 investigates Houston's red-light cameras. From their beginning, the city said the cameras would make dangerous intersections safer. Are they?

For more than a year, Local 2 Investigates has been tracking the accidents, before and after red-light cameras went up. We have the results you'll only see here.

Investigative reporter Amy Davis puts the city's safety claims to the test.

A red-light camera downtown catches exactly what red-light cameras all over town are supposed to prevent. So, are they working, or are they just catching lots of cash?

"Money, definitely money," said one Houston driver.

"It's a money-making deal," said another driver. "That's all there is to it."

"Maybe people are paying more attention," said another.

To find out, Local 2 Investigates analyzed two years worth of accident reports at 18 of the first red-light camera intersections to go online last year.

We compared the number of accidents the year before the cameras went up to the number of accidents during the year after the cameras were up and running.

We discovered at many intersections the cameras appear to be working.

On the west side, the intersection of Bellaire and Wilcrest had 23 accidents the year before red-light cameras. The year after, there were only 10. That's a 57 percent drop.

At Richmond and Dunvale, there were 16 accidents before red-light cameras. There were just eight after red-light cameras were installed. Accidents dropped 50 percent.

And I-10 east and Uvalde, the accidents went from 10 down to six -- a 40 percent decrease.

"We've seen a dramatic decline," said Houston Mayor Bill White.

White said the city's numbers show the total amount of accidents at all 50 intersections with red light cameras dropped from 529 to 345 this year compared to last year. "That is a dramatic decrease," White said. "It was cut down by a third."

But we discovered intersections FM 1960 and Tomball Parkway tell a much different story. And it's one the mayor can't explain. There were five accidents at the intersection before red-light cameras and 16 after. That's a 220 percent increase in accidents.

At Gessner and Beechnut in southwest Houston, accidents increased from six to 11 -- up 83 percent.

In Clear Lake, at the intersection of Bay Area Boulevard and El Camino Real, accidents jumped from 16 before red-light cameras to 22 after they were installed. That's a 38 percent increase.

Out of the 18 intersections we tracked, 10 had fewer accidents, seven had more wrecks, and one intersection's accident numbers stayed the same.

"We don't expect it to occur at every intersection," said White. "We don't expect it will occur every week or every month."

White said the city is paying for a more extensive study, but he said he does not know why some intersections would actually see more accidents.

White said he believes overall, the red-light camera program is a success, but doesn't rule out changes.

"If there's some intersections where it shows there wasn't any impact, we'll have to take a look at them and see if we need to keep deploying them at those intersections versus other intersections," said White.

The city's full report is expected in January.

White said accidents alone did not determine where the red-light cameras were installed. The city didn't want any one part of town to feel like it was getting all of them.

More Information:

Spreadsheet: Number Of Accidents At Red Light Camera Intersections
• See List Of Red-Light Cameras In Houston