Star-Telegram.com: | 04/14/2008 | Red-light camera citations drop as drivers get picture i... Page 1 of 1

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/v-print/story/580004.html 4/14/2008

Red-light camera citations drop as drivers get picture in Fort Worth

By MIKE LEE Star-Telegram staff writer FORT WORTH -- Drivers are adjusting to the red-light cameras at seven Fort Worth intersections.

The number of people running red lights has decreased at most of the monitored intersections, according to statistics released last week.

The city installed the cameras in November and began issuing tickets in January. From January to March, the number of red-light runners declined at five intersections --by almost two-thirds at one --and rose slightly at two. The number of tickets issued declined to 3,091 in March from 4,018 in January, a 23 percent drop.

The cameras have been installed at two more intersections --East Lancaster Avenue and Riverside Drive, and East Lancaster and Sandy Lane --this year.

Councilman Chuck Silcox, who pushed for the installation of the cameras, said the systems are doing what they're supposed to do.

"If most of them can help reduce people running red lights, reduce what I call the Russian roulette effect, then I think they're worth it," he said.

Drivers who are seen running a red light get a notice in the mail and a $75 fine. The fine isn't a traffic ticket, so it doesn't show up on the driver's record. Fort Worth splits the revenue with the vendor that operates the cameras and with the state.

The cameras have been criticized in some cities. Opponents say that the cameras' operators shorten the yellow-light interval to generate money from fines and that accidents rise at the selected intersections.

Dallas shut down one-fourth of its cameras this year after revenue came in below projections, according to published reports.

Silcox and other council members have said that Fort Worth's program is designed to monitor a limited number of intersections that have a history of accidents.

"I have no idea what that money is, and I don't care," Silcox said.