On Tuesday, the city's Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee approved a plan to begin enforcing illegal left and right turns at 12 intersections in the city. The full City Council is expected to vote in two weeks.

The panel also directed the police department to implement a pilot program using one of the city's two photo-enforcement vans to control speeding.

Councilman Greg Stanton, a subcommittee member who represents Ahwakutee and parts of north-central Phoenix, requested the police department identify an additional 38 high-accident intersections and the costs of expanding the red-light camera program.

"We have enough serious accidents that this would be a significant increase in safety," Stanton said. "Most of our sister cities in the Valley, as a percentage basis, have significantly more cameras. Most major American cities our size have significantly more cameras. We've had that relatively small amount for a long time. The public-safety benefits of having more cameras are worth it."

South Zone Traffic Enforcement Lt. Patrick Hofmann said he didn't know when enforcement of turning violations would begin. Hofmann said the pilot program using a photo-enforcedment van will begin this summer to monitor drivers and collect statistics but will not issue citations.

Approved in 2000, Phoenix's program to catch red-light runners includes cameras at 12 intersections. Two photo-radar vans monitor school zones when school is in session. One of those vans will rove the city as part of the pilot program.

Hofmann will return in the fall to the subcommittee with the results of the pilot program and costs associated with expanding the program.

"How do you place the value on an accident that didn't occur? Someone's life that wasn't lost. You can't," said Hofmann. "Speed is our greatest problem, in our opinion, with causing the high injuries and devastating accidents that the city sees. Every place we put a camera has the potential to deter speed and make the public's driving behavior change."