Last modified: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:57 AM CDT
Traffic cameras have drivers seeing red
By Brian Flinchpaugh
Nolan McDougler had already been in traffic court twice about a ticket he received in February for allegedly running a red light.
He received a continuance in April. It was now late May as he appeared again before Florissant Municipal Judge Timothy Kelly.
Despite watching a recording of the alleged violation on a computer at Kelly's desk, McDouglar still wasn't convinced.
Along with accusing Kelly of being unfair for finding him guilty of running a red light, McDouglar said there were mitigating circumstances.
"The traffic lights weren't working right," he said.
McDouglar and thousands of other North County motorists also have been introduced the hard way to the red-light camera experience since 2006.
The experience can end with a $100 fine that is more akin to a parking ticket, because no points are taken off a drivers license.
According to police officials and the firms that operate the cameras, the cameras and fines are a means to deter drivers from running red lights at intersections, reducing the number of accidents and saving lives.
However, the jury still seems to be out on the whether the cameras are as effective as they were promised to be.
In cities that recently installed the cameras, authorities say it's too early to tell. But in cities that have had cameras for more than a year, the answer is a definite yes.
"They're working," said Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery Sr., whose city was the second in St. Louis
County to begin using the cameras in 2006. "The number of tickets is going down, and we've had fewer accidents."
Florissant Lt. Dennis Cordia, a traffic shift commander, said serious "T-bone" crashes, when one vehicle hits the side of another, as well as head-on collisions, are down.
That's particularly true at the intersection of Graham and Dunn roads, which has had cameras operating for more than a year.
"People thought we were going to have a lot of rear-enders, which we haven't had," Cordia said.
Surveillance cameras mounted at intersections have been around for many years, particularly in Europe.
They arrived in earnest in North County in 2006. That's when municipalities began awarding contracts to companies to install cameras at heavily traveled intersections. Most of the North County contracts went to American Traffic Solutions (ATS), a firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz., although Edmundson has a contract Redflex Holdings Ltd. in Arizona.
ATS has contracts with 15 North County municipalities, the most recent in the city of Berkeley.
The company installs the equipment. Police officers in each city do a final review of potential violations, and ATS then sends out citations. ATS receives a percentage of the fines paid for each ticket. For example, ATS receives 35 percent of each red-light ticket fine in Florissant.
Calverton Park Police Chief John Moore said it may take about a year to evaluate the effectiveness of the city's one camera, installed where the northbound lanes of Florissant Road intersect with the entrance to McCluer High School.
"We were told to expect about a 50 percent drop in tickets," Moore said.
Florissant and Hazelwood officials are seeing a drop in tickets, saying motorists are more cautious now.
In Florissant, the number of citations issued each month in 2008 has dropped compared to the last two years.
Through May of this year, Florissant has issued 4,598 citations. That's down from 2006, when more than 1,000 citations were issued monthly in six of the seven months the cameras were operating. For all of 2007, the city issued 20,653 citations.
Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf said citations have dropped at 12 camera locations, from 4,380 issued in the first month of operation in 2007 to 1,659 in February 2008.
Cities that recently installed cameras are seeing the same pattern as Florissant and Hazelwood did in their first year.
Since May 16, Moline Acres has issued 235 citations from the camera installed at southbound Highway 367 at Berwgyn Drive, said Police Chief Dan Dorn.
Moore said 169 citations have been issued since May, an average of 7.6 tickets a day, he said. Country Club Hills Police Chief Clifton Ware said the city's camera, mounted at the eastbound lanes of
West Florissant Road at Lucas and Hunt Road, became operational June 16. During a 30-day warning period before police began issuing tickets, 145 potential violations were recorded. Ware said these violations occurred despite large signs 300 feet in front of the intersection notifying
drivers about the camera. People are ignoring the signs as they run red lights, Ware said. "You can see them not paying attention, talking on their cell phones," he said.
Red-light cameras remain controversial.
Some critics say the cameras have more to do with raising revenue than raising driver awareness. Others charge that their use is an invasion of privacy, and the fines aren't legally enforceable.
Citations are mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle, who may or may not have been driving the vehicle when the violation occurred. Some drivers ignore the tickets because the cameras capture clear pictures of the license plates but not the drivers.
When it comes to enforcement of fines, judges have a difficult time issuing a warrant if they can't tell who is driving.
Judge Kelly, who also serves as a municipal judge for St. John, said Florissant receives payment for 70 to 75 percent of the citations.
He said two out-of-state drivers, one from Philadelphia and one from Peoria, owe $500 each. Others owe as much as $1,200 in fines.
Cities may take new steps to increase enforcement.
Kelly said Florissant may write letters to credit bureaus and employers of violators to inform them of unpaid tickets, or the city may place physical constraints on vehicles in Florissant with unpaid fines. He also may ask the City Council to authorize seeking civil judgments against violators who don't pay their fines.
Other cities, such as Country Club Hills, are considering tying payment of fines to vehicle registration.
Red-light cameras also face legal challenges. At least one lawsuit challenging the cameras has been filed in Arnold.
Given these factors, some North County cities are moving cautiously before installing red-light cameras.
The Jennings City Council has considered but tabled proposals to install cameras at several intersections.
"They (council members) have concerns about legal challenges right now and if something happens," said Jennings Mayor Benjamin Sutphin.
Sutphin said city officials see the cameras as a way to reduce accidents at a number of intersections. "We definitely think it's a good thing," he said.
Ferguson also has moved slowly. The City Council directed city staff to look into installing three cameras at Pershall and West Florissant roads, as well as the Brotherton Lane and Airport Road intersections with Florissant Road, but a final decision hasn't been made.
Ferguson Public Safety Director Thomas Moonier said he initially was skeptical about the cameras. But after seeing demonstrations, he was willing to explore their feasibility.
Moonier noted that red-light cameras are more efficient and raise a lot more money than the old-fashioned way - an officer writing traffic tickets. But cameras also tend to remove citizens from personal contact with police, he said.
Still, Ware, Dorn and other authorities say if communities were solely interested in increasing revenue, they would have mounted cameras in all four directions at many intersections. Many of the cameras installed now only monitor traffic moving in one direction.
"This is not a money maker; it's not a cash cow," Ware said. "I've grown up here, and I've seen some horrific traffic accidents at Lucas and Hunt. If a camera can stop some of those accidents, I'm all for it."
http://northcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/06/25/news/sj2tn20080624-0625flo-r... 6/25/2008