News - Local News

POSTED: Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

How Bellingham's red light camera proposal would work

BELLINGHAM - Mayor Dan Pike wants to install red-light cameras and speed cameras in school zones to help bridge the gap in the city's budget.

Officials hope to bring in as much as $500,000 annually with the new cameras, according to a city report.

Since 2005, crashes at intersections with traffic signals have injured about 75 people, according to Bellingham Public Works data. Meanwhile, with less police time available for traffic enforcement, the number of speeding tickets in school zones declined by nearly half between 2007 and 2008.

Officials are looking at installing probably four of the cameras in school zones and four others at intersections with high numbers of red-light-runner crashes, said Bellingham Police Lt. Scott Snider. While details haven't been decided, the fines for running a red light would probably be in the $100 to $125 range, and the fine for speeding in a school zone would probably be higher, he said.

Many Washington cities have installed red-light cameras after the Legislature passed a bill allowing them to do so, with certain restrictions. Bellingham City Council must still decide on whether it wants to install the cameras.

HOW DO THE CAMERAS WORK?

Cameras installed in various Washington cities shoot video and two still photos of each car driving through a red light. That's the system operated by Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions, which has contracts with 12 Washington cities and is one of the largest red-light camera companies in the U.S.

The cameras are behind vehicles going through the intersections. When a vehicle's speed indicates it may run the light, the cameras shoots a photo of the back of it before entering the intersection and while the light is red, ATS spokesman Josh Weiss said. Then it shoots another photo of the vehicle in the middle of the intersection with the light still red. The whole time it shoots video as well.

The images are good enough to zoom in and see the license plate clearly. The 12-second video provides context, for instance if vehicles in a funeral procession are photographed, Weiss said. No drivers get tickets unless they enter the intersection after the light has already turned red, he said.

"It's a very fair system," he said. "You have to enter the intersection after the light is already red."

WHERE DO THE CAMERAS GO?

Cities provide lists of intersections they think have problems with red-light runners, Weiss said. Then the company goes out and studies the intersections with videos to see if there's actually a problem and if the location is good for a camera. In some cases, the company finds crashes have nothing to do with cars running red lights, he said.

Bellingham Public Works data shows that the top red-light-runner crash location from 2005-08 was the intersection of Holly and North Forest streets, with vehicles going through red lights on Holly and getting T-boned. Six people were injured in those crashes, which largely took place on dry pavement during the day.

The second worst location was Champion and State streets, where eight T-bone crashes hurt three people.

WHAT DOES STATE LAW SAY ABOUT CAMERAS?

The bill approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor in 2005 puts significant restrictions on local governments' use of the cameras. Here are a few:

- The City Council must approve their use.

- They can't photograph drivers' faces.

- They can only be used at stoplights, school zones or railroad crossings.

- They can only be used at two-arterial intersections, not residential streets.

- The photos aren't available to the public and can only be used by law enforcement for purposes of the traffic violation.

- All locations where they're used must be clearly marked with signs stating that cameras are being used.

- The amount of money the city pays the company can only be based on the value of the equipment and services, not as a percentage of ticket revenue.

- Tickets don't go on the person's driving record, and they'll be processed like parking tickets.

- It's presumed that the registered owner was driving at the time of the infraction, but that can be overcome if the owner states under oath in writing or in court that the car was stolen at the time or somebody else was driving it, thus getting out of the ticket.

DOES THE CAMERA AUTOMATICALLY DECIDE IF I GET A TICKET?

No, police do. Officers look through the photos and video and decide whether to mail you the ticket. Often, tickets get thrown out. For example, in Olympia police have thrown out many tickets because the driver wasn't running straight through the red light but instead did a rolling right turn on a red.

In the last seven months of 2008, Olympia police threw out 48 percent of possible violators, mostly because of rolling right turns or because the driver was on or just past the stop line when the photo was taken, The Olympian newspaper reported.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU GOT A TICKET?

Alleged offenders get a ticket in the mail with a copy of the photos of their vehicle in the intersection and the license plate. They can then log onto a Web site and watch the video of their alleged offense. Like with any ticket, the accused can fight the ticket in court.

DO THE CAMERAS REDUCE CRASHES?

The answer depends on whom you ask. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says its own evaluations in Fairfax, Va., and Oxnard, Calif., showed they reduce red-light-running and T-bone crashes. Those crashes, which can be very dangerous, went down 32 percent in Oxnard, and T-bones resulting in injuries dropped 68 percent there.?

But some studies have shown that the cameras can increase rear-end crashes, which usually aren't as dangerous as T-bones, according to the institute. A Federal Highway Administration-sponsored study found that in seven cities T-bones dropped by 25 percent but rear-end crashes increased 15 percent. Overall, the study authors concluded that the economic costs to society from the additional rear-end crashes was more than offset by a reduction in T-bone crashes, which are more damaging and dangerous.

In Seattle, there's little evidence the cameras decreased crashes, but they may have resulted in less severe ones, according to the city of Seattle. Fewer people were injured after the cameras went in.

Reach Jared Paben at 715-2289 or jared.paben@bellinghamherald.com. Read his Traffic Talk blog at TheBellinghamHerald.com/blogs.

DO CAMERAS MAKE MONEY FOR CITIES?

JARED PABEN

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Bellingham officials estimate installing red-light and school-zone cameras could generate as much as $500,000 a year for the city, but in some places cities are losing money or barely making it with them.

One company, Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions, which has contracts to operate cameras in 12 Washington cities, sets up and provides the equipment in exchange for a base monthly rate. If ticket revenue drops below that rate, the company eats the reduction in revenue that month. Then, in later months when the revenue is higher, the lost revenue is paid back, said company spokesman Josh Weiss.

"There's no cost to taxpayers," he said. "That's one of the reasons why this program is so appealing."

In Seattle, a pilot project using six red-light cameras for a year generated a lot of money. The city took in $1.08 million after paying expenses. The money came from payment of 11,957 tickets. More than 70 percent of people ticketed paid their tickets, and only 5.6 percent declared that they weren't driving at the time, getting out of the ticket, according to a final report.

A 2002 study by the California State Auditor studying cameras in six cities found that only two made any significant money and others made a little or lost money. The worst performer was San Francisco, which from 1995 to 2002 lost nearly $1 million using 18 cameras.

"We found that the red light camera programs are not revenue enhancing for most of the local governments we visited and that most programs operate on a break-even basis or at a slight deficit," the report found. "Only San Diego and Oxnard have generated significant revenues in excess of expenditures."

Oxnard made $408,000 total from 1998-2002 with cameras at 11 intersections.

"Red-light camera programs are about improving safety, not money," said Weiss, adding that he couldn't answer whether $500,000 a year is a reasonable estimate for a city about Bellingham's size.