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Red-Light Cameras Catching On Across U.S.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 22, 2008

TAMPA - Cities across the nation are dipping their toes into the surveillance pool, using electronic eyes at troublesome intersections and snapping incriminating photos of red-light runners.

Hillsborough County wants to jump in, too, having identified several intersections that authorities say are perfect for such cameras.

Does the electronic enforcement method work?

Seattle says yes, and is adding 24 cameras this year, boosting its total to 30.

"There is no excuse for running a red light," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in a news release two weeks ago announcing the expansion. "An instant of recklessness or neglect can take a life or cause serious injury. Expanding this successful program will make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers."

Under a one-year pilot program, Seattle found that red-light running dropped by half and the number of accidents and injuries also declined at intersections equipped with cameras.

The program was conducted with American Traffic Solutions, the same company poised to post cameras at 10 Hillsborough County intersections from Carrollwood to Brandon.

Currently, 300 communities in 24 states have red-light cameras, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many of those communities say they have increased revenue for the city.

Waukegan, Ill., officials are collecting fines like nobody's business. At a single intersection, the city has issued more than 300 red-light running tickets over the past year, and now is poised to install cameras at four other intersections by spring.

The fine is $100.

St. Louis, the gateway to the west, also has joined the gaggle of cities erecting cameras at intersections. The fine is $100 per ticket and the city splits the money with the camera company.

St. Louis' first installed red-light cameras at two intersections and they have been in operation for almost a year.

Redding, Calif., began its red-light intersection surveillance project last year, handing out more than 300 tickets over a two-month period at just one intersection. Redding officials said they plan to put cameras in at least three more intersections this year.

Still, Redding officials said, running a red light under the watchful gaze of a camera does not translate into an automatic ticket. Photos of poor quality won't be presented in court. The identity of the driver is critical. Tickets are mailed to the owner of the vehicle, who is not necessarily the driver at the time.

Redding police Chief Leonard Moty this afternoon said the pilot project is a success. In October and November of 2006, before the camera was installed at the one intersection, police handed out four tickets for running red lights. Over the same two months last year, just after the camera was installed, 300 tickets were issued.

Since then, the number of violators has dropped, he said, because people know they will get the ticket if they run the light.

"It's not all the tickets we're handing out," he said. "I'd just like to see people not run red lights."

In Albuquerque, N.M., a recent city audit showed a profit of $5.8 million over two years from intersection cameras alone. Dallas pulled in more than $10 million in a single year, officials said.

Time will tell for the South Florida city of Pembroke Pines, where camera installers currently are working with the police department to identify dangerous intersections.

"We should have cameras up within a month," Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis said this morning.

The city plans to hand out tickets that carry $125 fines, he said, but for the first six months, only warning letters along with a photograph of the errant driver will be mailed to culprits just to let them know the city is watching.

The tickets handed out will be code violation citations, he said, which don't add points to licenses.

"We think we've thought of everything," the mayor said.

Cameras should be in place and working within a month, he said.

Florida has implemented a statewide ban on ticketing motorists strictly from photographic evidence. But municipalities have gotten around the ban by issuing non-moving violation tickets, similar to parking tickets or, as in Pembroke Pines, code infractions.

Those citations don't add points on licenses and insurance rates likely won't rise for violators.

A handful of Florida cities, including Port Richey, have adopted a similar strategy and plan to install the cameras.

Some officials watching the surveillance camera programs say that although fewer motorists run red lights because of the presence of cameras, there are more rear-end crashes caused by drivers stopping short for yellow lights.

"People should be slowing for yellow lights," Ortis said, "not speeding up."

Hillsborough County commissioners are thinking about installing the cameras.

Details must be ironed out, including the amount of the fines, but proponents say they hope to try the idea at a few intersections and if it works, put cameras up at several locations throughout the county.

For four years, Melissa Wandell of Bradenton has pushed for legislation in Florida that would make prosecution of red-light runners possible with the photographic evidence. Wandell's husband was killed by a motorist who ran a red light.

In a recent interview with The Tampa Tribune, she said she was pleased to hear Hillsborough County is considering the cameras.

"It's very encouraging because it makes me feel that I'm not alone in this fight," she said. "My husband's life was worth more. He deserved more. My love is so deep for him I'm not going to give up. Red-light running is a problem in the state of Florida, and I'm going to see this legislation through."

The Florida Legislature in March is expected to examine a bill to allow cameras at intersections.

Hillsborough County officials blamed 439 crashes, including one fatal wreck, on red-light running last year.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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