A Green Light on Red-Light Cameras?

Each year, 260,000 crashes and 800 fatalities nationwide are caused by drivers running red lights. In Southern California , several communities are weighing the installation of surveillance camera systems at select dangerous intersections , despite controversy surrounding the efforts. In San Diego this week, a judge threw out 290 camera-generated tickets, saying the city had not properly supervised the company running the system.

Rita Luther spoke with officials from three police departments about such systems.

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LT. AL MUNOZ-FLORES

Beverly Hills Police Department

Beverly Hills has installed surveillance systems at three of the most dangerous intersections and plans six more in the near future. We know the program is working because the number of violations captured has been reduced by 33.8% since the cameras were installed, and there has been a reduction in the number of accidents at these same intersections.

We have only heard positive comments about the program. We feel the cameras are a boon to public safety. The intention is to educate the public about this deadly problem. We want to be fair, so all of the intersections are clearly marked with signs warning motorists that they will be photographed if they run the red light. Our yellow-light timing meets or exceeds Caltrans recommendations for yellow-light phasing. The cameras take pictures of the driver and license plate while blocking out the [face of the] passenger. Like parking ticket citations, the owner of the car is cited but has the option of filling in the name of the driver on the citation if the owner wasn’t driving at the time. The citation would then be reissued to the driver. Each violation could be a potential deadly accident. The average speed a violator is driving when running a red light in Beverly Hills is 31 mph.

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LT. STAN JACQUOT

Police Chief, Mission Viejo

The planning commission requested a study of red-light cameras, and, while I’m not going to quote numbers, the study did reveal that our red-light-running occurrences are below the national average.

Personally, I am not opposed to red-light camera surveillance systems, and if drivers slow down and pay attention because of them, I believe they are a useful tool.

I do not believe it is the job of the police department to decide whether to install red-light cameras. That’s the job of the planning commission and the traffic department.

I don’t want people to think it is a revenue thing; it’s about safety. Presently we have cameras at certain intersections that monitor traffic flow. When a problem occurs, such as a traffic jam, someone from the traffic department can look at the situation on a monitor and actually make adjustments to the timing of the lights to relieve the congestion.

Some people have called us to ask if these are red-light cameras, and we tell them they are not, but my feeling is if they think they are, maybe that is a good thing. But for now we are still studying the issue.

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SGT. MARK MILLER

South Pasadena Police Department

South Pasadena just completed a three-year study of red-light camera systems and decided that red-light running is not a significant enough problem to justify the expense of a surveillance system. Because of police presence and strictly enforced speed limits, red-light running is not a problem in South Pasadena at this time.

The City Council will hold public hearings on the issue periodically to assess the need for red light cameras in the future.