OTTAWA, Ont. — If preliminary data released by the Ottawa Police Services Board is any indication, than red light cameras may be doing nothing to improve traffic safety.

The red light cameras installed at eight Ottawa intersections haven’t significantly reduced the number of crashes at those locations, police say.

Ottawa is one of six Ontario municipalities participating in a two-year pilot project to determine if the cameras will improve safety. They have been in place for almost a year now.

Canada Safety Council representative, Emile Therien, says that the cameras’ ineffectiveness may be due to a lack of signage.

"They would have had a bigger bang for their buck if they had put in signage," Therien tells local media. "If you don’t have signage in this program, it’s going to fail." He adds that without signs, the program can be viewed as a cash cow rather than a safety program.

But Ottawa’s senior transportation director, Doug Brousseau, has been opposed to adding signs.

"If you don’t see the sign, you would know there isn’t a camera," points out Brousseau.