Red-light cameras coming to New Port Richey

Are you ready for your close-up?

That might be the question New Port Richey police soon will pose to drivers who don't stop for red traffic signals.

New Port Richey will install red-light cameras at many U.S. 19 intersections within the city limits to catch violators.

A camera automatically snaps a photo of the license plate of a car in the intersection after the traffic signal has turned red. A traffic ticket then is mailed to the offender.

The city has hired a contractor to put up red-light cameras, Police Chief Jeff Harrington said. American Traffic Solutions will install and operate the system.

"We have far too many accidents and far too many fatalities for a city of our size," Harrington said about state traffic crash statistics during a December interview. "We're much higher than cities much larger."

The cameras might modify the behavior of drivers who run red lights, Harrington said.

The cameras likely will appear in four locations, Harrington expects, although the locations haven't been finalized yet. One possible location is at U.S. 19 and Main Street.

Drivers might see the cameras across town by April, the police chief predicted.

The city of Port Richey helped pioneer the use of red-light cameras several years ago in a legal vacuum before any regulations had been spelled out.

The devices catch photos of vehicles that violate a red signal on northbound and southbound U.S. 19 at Ridge Road. Police review evidence, which includes a close-up image of the vehicle's license plate, before tickets are sent to drivers, who can appeal.

The latest monthly report from the Port Richey Police Department shows 760 red-light camera citations were issued in January. Only seven of the tickets were dismissed after administrative review or hearing.

Fees on those tickets amounted to $29,400 for January. About half of the tickets were paid after the first notice.

Some state lawmakers, however, are seeking to repeal the 2010 state law that authorized the cameras after many cities had long ago installed the devices. The state now gets a large percentage of the revenue from any red-light camera tickets.

Not only does state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, strongly object to red-light cameras, but he also points to reports that court challenges have cut into revenue from tickets.

In some jurisdictions, judges have dismissed red-light-running citations because many of the intersection cameras do not provide an image of the person driving and therefore no proof the person cited was operating the vehicle during the violation.

Appeals are on the rise in many South Florida cities, which must spend thousands of dollars to defend the fines, Fasano said.

State Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey, is most adamant about repealing state authorization of the use of red-light cameras.

State Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, also detests the cameras.

The lawmakers and many critics said they believe that a new stream of revenue inspired installation of the cameras more than safety concerns. Some critics say the devices cause many more rear-end collisions, an assertion camera advocates say is not backed by statistics.

Harrington says he approves of "anything we can do to improve the safety." There were research studies on both sides of the safety issue, the police chief said. "We were of the opinion that the data proves they improve traffic safety."

On Feb. 1, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that the red-light cameras are effective. The institute's study indicated that the cameras have reduced the rate of fatal crashes by 24 percent in 14 large cities between 1996 and 2004.