Camera to catch drivers who run new red light

BY JASMINE KRIPALANI

Pembroke Pines is among a growing number of South Florida cities ready to flip the switch on high-

resolution video cameras aimed at the license plates of red-light runners.

It will also serve as a model for other municipalities -- including Aventura, North Miami, Hallandale

Beach, Miami, Homestead, and Coral Gables -- that are considering using the unmanned cameras on

their streets.

Pines' first camera, which was recently installed at the intersection of Northwest 129th Avenue and

Pines Boulevard, will begin recording Tuesday.

Rooted to the ground, the equipment resembles a sleek fireman's pole with two electronic eyes

branching out its sides.

Their lenses are aimed at drivers traveling east on Pines Boulevard.

While the video captures every stop-and-go driver, a picture of a license tag is only shot when the

driver runs the red light, said Josh Weiss, spokesman for American Traffic Solutions, a Scottsdale,

Ariz.-based company that installs the cameras.

The video allows the driver to witness the infraction on the Internet.

''You only get a ticket when you enter the intersection after the light has turned red,'' Weiss said. ``You

can also go online with the pin number and go in and see. . . . a 10-second video to see what

occurred.''

American Traffic Solutions has a three-year contract with Pembroke Pines to install the cameras and

review the video and pictures. It sends those images to a Pembroke Pines police officer who

determines whether to fine the driver.

The cameras are free for the first six months as they work out any glitches. After that, the company

will receive a percentage of the fines collected.

''The camera is doing what a police officer could do if we could put officers at these intersections on a

full-time basis,'' said Pembroke Pines Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Hall. ``We're not doing anything

that's unreasonable. It will impact safety and save lives.''

City officials hope fines collected will also cover the salary of the police officer who reviews the traffic violations.

''And any other administrative costs,'' Commissioner Iris Siple said.

Siple said after the six-month period, the city would calculate anticipated revenues.

''From there, we would be able to project what we're looking at money-wise,'' she said.

For a long time, Florida considered traffic enforcement by cameras as being against state law, according to a 2005 opinion by then-Attorney General Charlie Crist. ''This office continues to be of the opinion. . . . that legislative changes are necessary before local

governments may issue traffic citations and penalize drivers who fail to obey red light indications on traffic signal devices,'' Crist wrote.

As the state legislature considers making those changes this session, cities have found a loophole. If the citations are filed as civil instead of traffic infractions, the city can issue fines. But no points would be assessed against a driver's record.

Already in Florida, the Panhandle city of Gulf Breeze and Apopka, near Orlando, have begun issuing

fines to red-light runners. In Gulf Breeze, violators are fined $100 and taken to small-claims court if they refuse to pay, said Matt Dannheisser, an attorney for the city.

How the fine would be enforced in Pines is still being debated.

Assistant City Attorney Mike Cirullo said some proposals being discussed include suing to collect fines or placing liens on properties. But Carim Neff, a traffic attorney in Sunrise, said he sees a problem with the proposal that would

punish homeowners more severely than renters or out-of-towners -- and so appeared unlikely. ''The law may be unfairly applied to one class of people,'' Neff said. Under current laws, a police officer must see a driver run a red light before a ticket is issued. The

driver is fined $187.50 and can contest the ticket in court.

With the new technology, the driver would receive a $125 fine in the mail. How a driver would appeal the decision is also being debated. But until mid-October, drivers who run the new red light at the Northwest 129th Avenue and Pines

Boulevard intersection will be off the hook, receiving only written warnings. That will give city commissioners time to figure out how the system of fines and appeals would work. The state has been slow to approve the cameras because studies have shown that their use increase

rear-end collisions as motorists slam on their brakes to avoid a fine. ''We don't endorse it and we wouldn't allow it to be placed within state right-of-way or be

interconnected to any equipment,'' said Mark Plass, district traffic operations engineer for the Florida Department of Transportation in Fort Lauderdale said. In the past two years, 29 people have died in traffic accidents in Pembroke Pines --but the data doesn't

show how many were related to red-light runners, Hall said.

Ultimately, it will be up to city commissioners to decide whether to keep or scrap the technology.