Cameras nabbing reckless motorists

Editorial

It's been nearly a year since Hillsborough County began using red-light cameras to address an epidemic of red-light running, and the law-enforcement tool is doing precisely what it was intended to do: hold reckless drivers accountable.

The red-light cameras at six intersections have resulted in roughly 25,000 citations. Officers on patrol would have been able to achieve but a fraction of that number. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was right to push for their use.

The cameras punish the reckless and, over time, should result in fewer violations and collisions, as they have in other communities.

In Temple Terrace, traffic violations have dropped 67 percent in the two years since the city installed red-light cameras at 56{+t}{+h} Street and Fowler Avenue and 56{+t}{+h} and Busch Boulevard.

New York City saw violations drop 73 percent and collisions drop 41 percent after starting a red-light camera program.

Aventura, a planned community in Miami-Dade County, experienced a 200 percent drop in crashes after it began utilizing cameras.

Hillsborough, so far, has not experienced a major drop in collisions in the six intersections: Sligh Avenue and Habana Avenue; Bell Shoals Road and Bloomingdale Avenue; Brandon Boulevard and Grand Regency Boulevard; Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Fletcher Avenue; Waters Avenue and Anderson Road; and Waters Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway.

There has been a decrease at four of the intersections and a slight increase at two. But officials say other traffic problems, such as an exit from a private parking lot, contributed to many of the collisions. Crash numbers do not always plummet when the cameras go up. It is after drivers begin receiving citations that they modify their behavior.

Running red lights, which often results in deadly T-bone collisions, is a serious violation that endangers others and often snarls traffic. Watch the sheriff office's website to see a sampling of flagrant red-light runners.

Opponents say the cameras are aimed only at making money, not making streets safer. But the red-light program is judiciously enforced. Vehicles are cited only if they enter an intersection after the light has turned red. The fine is $158, almost $100 less than a ticket for running a red light would be.

The citation, which goes to the vehicle owner, does not require a court appearance or result in points on a driver's license or the need to attend driving school.

Under state law, $70 of the fine goes to the state Department of Revenue, $10 goes to the Health Administration Trust Fund, $3 to the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund, and $75 goes to the county's general fund, a portion of which is used to pay the vendor. So the operation does not enhance the sheriff office's budget.

The red light cameras do discourage a dangerous violation and hold reckless drivers accountable, results that should be applauded