Smile, the Traffic Camera’s Running

Drivers who ran red lights on Sunday at Westminster Avenue and Brookhurst Street should carefully check their mail for the next three weeks.

Cameras installed at the intersection took pictures of 26 scofflaw drivers between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m., and police have issued 22 $271 citations that will be mailed on or before July 31.

Cameras have been photographing red-light runners since June 25, about six months behind schedule. The City Council approved the traffic-enforcement program last year and cameras were originally expected to be in operation in early December.

“We’ve had some problems with it for a while because we have so much equipment at one intersection,” said George Allen, Garden Grove traffic engineer. “But it’s starting to work pretty well now.”

The intersection has cameras to catch scofflaw drivers traveling north and south on Brookhurst and those running left-turn signals in all four directions.

“The Garden Grove installation is easily the most complicated and complex [red-light camera intersection] in the world, because we’re monitoring six directions,” said Barbara Miller, president of Redflex Traffic Systems, the company installing the cameras.

“Usually, most cities start out by testing one approach, possibly two.”

There has been only one accident at the intersection over the past month, which Allen said was a significant decrease for the 10th-most dangerous intersection in Southern California. That designation is from a 1999 traffic survey by State Farm Insurance.

Cameras will photograph errant drivers for five more months, at which time the City Council will decide to end the program or expand it and install cameras at nine more intersections.

“If they’re producing citations and they’re making the intersection safer, I don’t see why they wouldn’t approve [the program expansion],” Allen said.

City officials need to determine if the program increases traffic safety and is cost-effective. Allen said the city has yet to have anyone challenge a citation.

Allen said the 22 citations were well above the expected average of six citations per day.

“The quality of the pictures are superb,” Allen said. “I’ve talked to the police and they’re happy. They feel that they can go to court and defend [the citations].”

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