Legislature doesn’t need to hit breaks on red- light cameras
The debate over red- light cameras is intensifying again, and a pair of Florida legislators have filed bills to ban the cameras. If the repeal bid fails, Rep. Frank Aviles, R- Miami, and Sen. Jeff Brandes, R- St. Petersburg, want to stop the installation of new cameras and cut fines ( from $ 158 to $ 83) that would eliminate local governments’ portion of the revenue.
This approach is both simplistic and wrong. I say it’s better to tweak the existing law than to gut it. Especially since a recent state report showed that fatalities fell by 49 percent, from 37 to 19, at certain camera intersections even as overall crashes increased12 percent. There was a spike in rear- end collisions, but dramatic drops in head- on and sideswipe crashes.
I’ve never gotten a ticket from a red- light camera, but I have a lovehate relationship with the technology. The cameras that have sprouted throughout South Florida in recent years are both valuable life- savers and annoying cash- generators.
I love how cameras can catch— and hopefully deter— those reckless idiots who speed straight through intersections and cause horrific T- bone or head- on crashes. But I hate howsome cities snag drivers making right turns at negligible speeds. That, to me, is a pure money grab and has little to do with safety.
All told, the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability found that redlight cameras produced nearly $ 119 million last year for the state, 74 municipalities and five counties. My suggested tweaks: Consider using red- light cameras only for straight or left- turn violations.
If right- turn violations are still in
play, there needs to be a uniformdefinition ofwhatis an allowable “careful and prudent” right turn. The Legislaturenever bothereddefining the term for traffic magistrates and police who review video infractions. The state report found that only 15 camera jurisdictions have written policies defining “careful and prudent” and the definitions varied widely.
Some municipalities let drivers go upto12 mph, others 8 mph. Some require a full stop and others don’t bother citing right turns at all. In other words, a right turn that might trigger a ticket in Boynton Beach or Boca Raton might be excused in Fort Lauderdale. This inconsistency is maddening for drivers.
There should be mandatory installation of rightturn green arrows atcamera intersections where the cross- traffic has a left- turn signal. There’s no reason for the right- turn traffic to fully stop if there’s no oncoming cross- traffic and pedestrians can’t cross. That’s the situation at some intersections I get the most complaints about, such as the one in Boca Raton at northbound Military Trail onto eastbound Spanish River Boulevard.
Require countdown clocks on the pedestrian crosswalks at camera intersections, giving drivers a clear cue as to when a light is about to change.
Make all yellow- light intervals uniform, say four seconds. It now varies between intersections and cities.
Increase the time that all sides of an intersection have a red light between cycles, say five seconds. This could cut down on wrecks and allow intersections to fully clear out.
At a news conference earlier this month, Aviles said red- light cameras aren’t needed because “we currently have the tools in our toolbox to stop the redlight infractions from occurring.”
Anybody who has driven around South Florida knows that’s wishful thinking.
Legislators should keep the cameras, but need to hit the focus button to make things safer and more consistent.