http://www.star-telegram.com/225/v-print/story/721096.html 6/25/2008
Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008
Posted on Wed, Jun. 25, 2008
The results are in from Arlington’s first year of using cameras to catch drivers who run red lights. Those results are (drum roll, please): a drop in the number of accidents at monitored intersections and more than $1 million in revenue from fines.
Ron Wright, who left his City Council seat Tuesday after eight years, reflected on the controversy that surrounded the program: "People can accuse us all they want of wanting the revenue, but it is saving lives."
Couldn’t have said it better.
During the past year, cities across Tarrant and Johnson counties have put up red-light cameras. The central figures in photos snapped by those cameras typically get hit with a $75 fine. Arlington, which has 10 cameras at eight intersections, sent out 25,536 violation notices in the program’s first 12 months.
After deducting the program’s costs, city officials expect the net revenue to be $680,000 this fiscal year.
Some Arlington residents fought tooth-and-nail against the cameras. In fact, the city’s voters rejected a 2003 street-improvement bond package because it included a plan to set up low-resolution cameras to monitor traffic at 22 locations. There were no citations or fines involved in that plan.
When the subject of red-light cameras with fines came up again in 2006, critics said it was too much "Big Brother is watching you." Wright himself was an early opponent.
Now those cameras are a part of life in North Texas, and they appear to be doing their job. If they cut down of the number of drivers running red lights, that’s a good thing.