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Company Says Red-Light Cameras, Drop In Injury Accidents Linked
Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH
Deputy Robert Spurlock issues a ticket to Ryan Kochanowski, of Bradenton, saying he ran a red light on Cortez Road.
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Published: January 25, 2008
TAMPA - Hillsborough County has taken the first steps toward joining communities across the nation in putting up cameras at intersections and snapping photos of red-light runners.
Ten local intersections from Brandon to Carrollwood have been targeted for a pilot program to help reduce intersection collisions, which amounted to 439 – one fatal – in the past year. But do these automated cops on a pole really work?
Yes, if the goal is to issue lots more traffic tickets. And more tickets mean more money for government. And yes judging by anecdotal evidence from the Arizona company selling the devices, which reports a broad decline in injury accidents.
But some critics say the cameras cause more rear-end collisions because people slam on their brakes more. And questions remain about what force a ticket in the mail carries without the sworn statement of a living, breathing police officer.
Still, from Puget Sound to Broward County, the technique is winning converts. An estimated 300 communities in 24 states have red-light cameras, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Some examples:
Seattle: Under a one-year pilot program, the biggest city in the northwest found that red-light running dropped by half and accidents and injuries declined thanks to the installation of six cameras. The city is adding 24 more.
Dallas: The city pulled in more than $10 million in fines during a single year thanks to the cameras, officials said. The Web site photoenforced.com shows nearly 60 intersections here with red-light cameras.
St. Louis: The fine is $100 per ticket and the city splits the money with the camera company. The Gateway to the West first installed red light cameras at two intersections and they have been in operation for almost a year.
Albuquerque: A recent audit showed the city made a profit of $5.8 million over two years from its intersection cameras. Photoenforced.com shows 23 intersections with red-light cameras in Albuquerque.
Redding, Calif.: More than 300 tickets were issued over two months at one intersection. In the same period a year earlier, before a camera was installed, four tickets were given there. The police chief said accidents and injuries are down as a result.
Waukegan, Ill.: An experiment at one intersection produced more than 300 red-light running tickets during the past year, each costing the violator $100. Cameras will be in place at four more intersections by spring.
"It's grown a lot in just the past couple of years. People are accepting the technology and understanding it," said Josh Weiss, communications director with American Traffic Solutions, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company putting up Seattle's cameras and negotiating with Port Richey in the Tampa Bay area.
"There have been enough examples to prove this works everywhere we go," Weiss said.
Problem intersections show a decrease in violations of 40 to 60 percent after cameras are in place, he said. Their presence also cuts down on wrecks caused by red-light runners.
"Those are mostly T-bone accidents," Weiss said, "the ones that cause more significant injuries."
Initially, there may be a spike in rear-end wrecks, he conceded, but once the public learns of the cameras and their locations, those types of wrecks taper off as well.
"We want to change behavior," he said. "The point of the cameras is to make the community safer. As people get used to the cameras, they modify their aggressive driving habits, meaning they slow down earlier when approaching these intersections."
One factor that varies from community to community is how American Traffic Solutions is paid. Some communities pay per camera per month, while others pay a percentage of each ticket.
In Redding, a photo doesn't necessarily bring a ticket. Photos of poor quality won't be pursued. One quarter of them were tossed in the first month of its program, some because the plate number was illegible. And plates can only be traced to the owner of the vehicle, who may not be culpable if he or she wasn't driving at the time.
Still, Redding police Chief Leonard Moty called the pilot project a success. The number of violations has dropped, Moty said, because drivers know they get a ticket if they run the light. Day or night, there is no escaping the camera's lens.
"It's not all the tickets we're handing out," he said. "I'd just like to see people not run red lights."
Waukegan police Sgt. Anthony Joseph said one trial camera has been up for three months but the city will place more than 20 more at problem intersections over the next year or so.
"We are looking at a 25 to 35 percent reduction in crashes," at the intersection under surveillance, he said. Waukegan recorded about 2,000 wrecks last year, "a lot of which were intersection related." Stationing police officers at those locations is impossible. "We just don't have the resources to be proactive."
The city has implemented a large scale public relations campaign to explain the cameras to motorists, he said, and he has heard very few complaints.
"Some may say it's all about the money, but it's really not," he said. "It's about safety. I hope we don't make a dollar on this program, I truly do. That would mean people are obeying the law."
He said the one camera in use submits about 20 violations a day, about half of which are tossed if there is any question. Only the flagrant violators are ticketed.
Some traffic analysts say the cameras may result in more rear-end crashes because cautious drivers will hit the brakes at the hint of a yellow signal and drivers behind them won't be as quick.
Mayor Frank Ortis of Pembroke Pines doesn't buy the argument.
"People should be slowing for yellow lights, not speeding up," said Ortis, whose Broward County city – like Hillsborough – is working to identify dangerous intersections.
Pembroke Pines plans to hand out tickets that carry $125 fines, Mayor Ortis said. But for the first six months, culprits will get only warning letters and a photograph in the mail just to let them know the city is watching.
The state of Florida currently bans surveillance cameras from its rights of way, but cities are getting around that by placing camera poles beside state-owned land. And in March, lawmakers are expected to take up a bill to allow camera placement on state property.
Port Richey likely will become the first Tampa Bay area city to use the red-light surveillance technology. Last month the city council gave its approval for the police department to place cameras at three intersections within the city limits.
Port Richey police Lt. David Brown said cameras will watch U.S. 19 intersections at Ridge Road and Grand Boulevard and the intersection of Leo Kidd Avenue and Ridge Road.
He was to meet with Automatic Traffic Solutions this month to talk about specifics, such as where to put the cameras and when.
"I wish they were already up," Brown said. To do what the cameras do at just one intersection, like Ridge Road and U.S. 19, "I would need four or five cops," he said.
He doesn't expect legal challenges to shake the new system.
"We've researched that issue," Brown said. "The company we are using has contracts all over the world."
When confronted with visual evidence, a suspect usually just pays the fine, Brown said.
"Violators can see their own violations. You can see it in a series of stills or a 7-second video. It's a magnificent tool. We will get people who will fight it. All we then have to do is say here, look at yourself.
"People say it's money, money, money," Brown added. "It's not money, money, money. It's lives, lives lives. If we can make one person a little more accountable for their driving skills, we've done our job."
Tampa defense attorney Ty Trayner sees some legal issues.
"There are going to be a lot of holes," Trayner said, mainly in getting money out of a vehicle owner who gets a ticket and a photo in the mail but can't be clearly identified as the one behind the wheel.
"The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt," Trayner said. "If the photos don't show that person as the one driving the car, then, that is reasonable doubt."
But since the ticket will have no effect on a person's driving record, Trayner said he would give this free-of-charge advice to anyone seeking his assistance:
"Just pay the ticket."
Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.
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