DeLand’s 1st red-light camera to be installed in May

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Red-light intersection — The intersection at Woodland Boulevard and New York Avenue has been identified as one of the city's most dangerous.

Seven intersections identified during test period

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Apr 25, 2009 - 7:25:48pm

DeLand City Commissioner Leigh Matusick said the city’s first red-light camera should be operating by some time in May, snapping photos of cars that run red lights.

The exact location will be determined after a meeting with Deputy Police Chief Bill Ridgway and LaserCraft Inc. representative Rick Larson. Eventually, the company plans to place up to 10 cameras around the city.

LaserCraft Inc. is the company that will install and monitor the cameras, at no cost to the city. LaserCraft will get a portion of any fines collected after the cameras nab red-light runners.

Temporary test cameras were installed at 10 intersections around DeLand a couple of weeks ago, to determine the best intersections for installing the real thing.

Matusick said more details will be worked out at a meeting planned Friday, April 24, with LaserCraft and staff from the city’s police, finance and other departments whose employees will have responsibilities for aspects of the red-light-camera program.

During the test period, LaserCraft identified seven “most hazardous” intersections, where a high number of violations were observed. The first camera will be installed at one of these intersections:

1. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway and Orange Camp Road

2. Amelia Avenue and Beresford Avenue

3. Woodland Boulevard and New York Avenue

4. Plymouth Avenue and Stone Street

5. Woodland Boulevard and Orange Camp Road

6. Woodland Boulevard and Plymouth Avenue

7. Woodland Boulevard and International Speedway Boulevard.

The test cameras were installed on trees for convenience. Permanent cameras will go on poles.

Figuring out just where to place the cameras will be tricky, Matusick said. Many intersections where red-light-running occurs frequently, like those on Woodland Boulevard, are on state highways. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will not let the city install the cameras in the FDOT right of way, because the Florida Legislature has not approved the use of red-light cameras or the tickets sent by mail when offenders are photographed.

Matusick hopes the Legislature will approve the devices in the current session. Legislators have rejected them a couple of times in the past.

Without legislative approval, regular traffic citations cannot be issued for infractions captured on camera. The infractions will, instead, be counted as city-code violations, and the cases will be handled by the city’s code-enforcement magistrate.

Since traffic points cannot be assessed for city-code violations, red-light runners caught on camera will not have points added to their driving records, and the infractions will not be reported to their auto-insurance carriers.

“If they’re in an accident, that’s a different ballgame,” Matusick said.

Tickets for accidents or other incidents to which a police officer responds will be issued on uniform traffic citations.

LaserCraft will not decide who is sent tickets.

The company will review the tapes and pull what appear to be photographs of infractions.

“We will get them, and our traffic divisions will go through and look at them before a citation is even issued,” Matusick said.

The DeLand Police Department will decide if a ticket is issued. If there’s any question, the tape will be tossed out.

LaserCraft will send out the tickets and set up court dates. The fine for running a red light will be $125. LaserCraft will get $35.50 of each $125 collected.

“It will not cost the city 1 cent,” Matusick said.

Tickets will be issued only for flagrant violations of public safety, not to enrich city coffers, she said. The system will not be tied to the traffic light in any way, so it will not be possible to alter the length of yellow or red lights.

A code printed on the ticket will allow the ticketed person to go online and watch the tape. It will show whether the car was behind the stop bar when the light turned red, or past it. A detail bar at the top of the tape will show how long the light was red, how long the car was there, and how fast it was going.

“It’s not a moneymaker. It’s a safety issue,” Matusick said. “We run a good number of crashes every month.”

Disagreement

FDOT isn’t the only red-light-camera critic.

Last year, a University of South Florida College of Public Health study found the cameras did not improve safety.

“Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections,” the university’s Web site reports. “If used in Florida, cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes due to the state’s high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs.”

The USF study is published at scweb3.hsc.usf.edu/.

The study suggests better intersection engineering would be a more effective remedy.

Matusick said she read the study.

“We did our homework,” she said. City officials talked to a number of law-enforcement agencies, and did not agree with the study’s findings.

And, Matusick said, the city will re-evaluate the program after it’s up and running.

A March 6 Tampa Tribune article by Rich Shopes reported Hillsborough County is preparing to install a camera system.

In neighboring Temple Terrace, a flood of complaints about red-light cameras were lodged after they were installed in October, but the complaints have tapered off, Shopes stated.

It appears motorists are slowing down in Temple Terrace.

“The 4,313 violations observed in January — not actual tickets issued — are roughly half the amount observed in October,” the article states.

Although more than half the October-to-January violations were forgiven, nearly $1 million worth of tickets were issued.

Other areas with red-light cameras include Lake Mary, Orlando and Juno Beach, Matusick said.

Lakeland is preparing to install the cameras, also.

Learning more

Once the camera program is under way, the city will develop press releases and set up public meetings to tell people about the new program.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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