Feeling Casual About Running Red Lights? Cameras to Give Pause

Scofflaw drivers in Garden Grove should make this New Year’s resolution if they want to avoid a $271 ticket: “I resolve to not run red lights . . . at least at Brookhurst Street and Westminster Avenue.”

Beginning the first week of December, that intersection in Garden Grove will have one of Orange County’s first red-light traffic enforcement cameras. It’s part of a six-month test of the cameras’ effectiveness, and only warnings will be issued for the first month of the program.

But after the new year begins, violators will receive citations through the mail.

Two digital cameras will record the license plate numbers of cars running through red signals, including left turns, on Brookhurst, and those running left-turn reds on Westminster.

Similar camera programs have been operating successfully in Beverly Hills, Oxnard, El Cajon, Poway, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. Irvine is installing cameras in the coming weeks, and in October the San Juan Capistrano City Council approved their use.

And while some may complain of “Big Brother” intrusion, city officials are hoping to reduce the number of accidents caused by those red-light violators.

“Red-light running is a big problem and a serious accident problem,” said George Allen, Garden Grove traffic engineer.

Allen reports that in 1997 there were 1,277 accidents in Garden Grove caused by red-light violators. In those accidents, 240 people were injured, eight fatally. “And the total number of people hurt or killed was 40% higher than in 1996,” he said.

The National Institute for Highway Safety reports that red-light violations account for 260,000 accidents each year in the U.S. and the number of accidents has increased 15% from 1992 to 1996.

But Allen knows firsthand that camera enforcement works.

When he was a traffic engineer with the city of Santee, he instituted a makeshift surveillance program. “The Sheriff’s Department gave me a car unit with a camera and two motorcycle officers to issue citations,” Allen said. “We were able to reduce accidents by 27%. But it was very, very labor-intensive.”

Allen expects the program to issue 14,000 to 18,000 tickets during the test run. If the program proves cost-effective to county and city officials, nine more intersections in Garden Grove will get cameras.

Chris Ceballos can be reached at (714) 966-7440.

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An Eye on Drivers

The city of Garden Grove will install cameras in December at the intersection of Brookhurst Street and Westminster Avenue as part of a test program to catch drivers who run red lights. If the program is successful, cameras at nine other intersections will be installed.

Source: City of Garden Grove

Graphics reporting by CHRIS CEBALLOS for The Times