L.A. May Put More Motorists on Film

Encouraged by a 10% drop in traffic accidents at targeted locations, Los Angeles city officials proposed Monday to increase the number of intersections equipped with cameras that automatically photograph cars running red lights.

Cameras operating at 16 intersections have resulted in 48,062 tickets during the last three years for red-light violations and contributed to an overall reduction in collisions, Los Angeles Police Department officials told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The panel agreed to look into expanding the program, which is operated through a contract with a private company.

“I would double the program,” LAPD Sgt. Steven Foster told the committee. “It’s had some good results in traffic collision reduction [and] injury reduction.”

The LAPD proposed the expansion because traffic accidents remain a problem citywide. In the San Fernando Valley, for instance, the number of traffic fatalities climbed from 68 in 2002 to 87 last year, Foster told council members.

Data from 2002 and 2003 showed that accidents at camera-equipped intersections had dropped 9.8% and injuries had declined 9.2%, Foster said.

“Obviously, this is a program that is well-received,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, chairwoman of the panel. “Let’s really look to accelerate the program.”

The committee voted to seek competitive proposals from companies interested in maintaining and expanding the program.

Cameras were first installed in December 2000 under a contract with Affiliated Computer Services, which operates the devices and shares the $341-per-ticket fine with the city. A new state law requires the next contract to be based on a flat fee per intersection, so the contractor does not have a financial interest in the number of tickets issued.

For a ticket to be valid, cameras must capture a clear picture of the front license plate and the driver’s face. More than 16,000 photographs did not result in traffic tickets because they failed to capture those images.

About 3,600 motorists have challenged their citations in court; of those, 159 have been found not guilty. In the last three years, the city has collected $490,000.

The council committee did not discuss which intersections might be added to the red-light program.

Traditionally, the city divides resources equally among the 15 City Council districts. However, Councilman Dennis Zine said new cameras should not be distributed based on the old methods. Instead, Zine said, the city should focus its attention “on those locations, wherever they are in the city, where more people are getting killed or injured in red-light violations.”

In other efforts to make streets safer, city officials said they are planning to install 50 automated signs that tell drivers how fast they are going.

Speed-measuring equipment also is being deployed to help the city identify which streets have problems. For example, the equipment found that on one stretch of De Soto Avenue in the Valley, during one 24-hour period, 1,338 vehicles were traveling at unsafe speeds.