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Red-Light Runners Will Fork Over Green

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE - Starting today, motorists who run red lights at two of the city's busiest intersections cannot hide from nearby outstretched arms of the law.

Cameras installed last week are up and running atop 20-foot poles at 56th Street and Fowler Avenue and at Bullard Parkway and 56th Street to capture red-light runners' every move. Signs are posted near each site to forewarn drivers.

The cameras, activated by underground motion detectors, capture images of a vehicle entering an intersection after a traffic signal turns red and of it proceeding through to the opposite side.

A violation occurs when a motorist enters an intersection after the traffic signal has turned red. Drivers already in the intersection when the signal changes to red are not considered lawbreakers.

"The detector says, 'I'm aware of your presence'; the first image says, 'I see you'; and the second says, 'I got you,'" said Danny Newman, the installation coordinator from American Traffic Solutions, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company the city contracted for the project.

During the program's first 30 days, vehicle owners, identified through their license plate numbers, will be issued warning citations. After that, a $100 fine will be imposed for first-time violators. Subsequent offenses will yield more costly fines. Red-light violations are documented as civil infractions and do not affect a vehicle owner's driving record.

Before a violation notice is sent, Temple Terrace Police Department officials will review the images to determine whether the driver broke the law. Red-light violators will be able to view the images by logging onto www.violationin fo.com and can call 1-866-790-4111 if they have questions.

Eight hours of traffic surveillance conducted one day early this year by American Traffic Solutions - including the morning and evening rush times - recorded 25 red-light runners southbound on 56th Street at Fowler Avenue and 15 westbound on Bullard Parkway at 56th Street.

In February, the Temple Terrace City Council approved an ordinance creating the traffic-light enforcement program to improve public safety.

"Our goal is to get voluntary compliance," Police Chief Tony Velong wrote in an e-mail. "Our hope is to reduce crashes at our intersections. Most intersection crashes involve serious damage and often personal injury because of the angles and speeds of the collisions. Many of our intersection crashes are caused by red-light violations."

Temple Terrace resident Nora Massaro, who watched as a camera was being installed at Bullard Parkway and North 56th Street, is all for it.

"They need it because that's a very dangerous intersection," she said. "A lot of people think the yellow light means to speed up and go, and that means they'll often run the red light."

Said Newman, "I can almost bet that in six months you'll see half the accidents at these intersections."

Cameras also will be installed later at 56th Street and Riverhills Drive, 56th Street and Whiteway Drive, Fowler Avenue and Riverhills Drive, and Fowler Avenue and Gillette Avenue.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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