Legislation would allow cameras to catch Erie drivers running red lights [Erie Times-News, Pa.]

Dec. 01--Erie drivers may one day get a ticket and a $100 fine for running a red light, even when there's no police officer in sight.

New legislation would allow Erie and other cities in the state to mount cameras on traffic lights to record license plates of cars running lights. Police would verify the license numbers and mail tickets and bills to offenders.

Red light cameras are already in use at busy Philadelphia intersections, and have been since 2005. Legislation approved by the state Senate in October would reauthorize the Philadelphia program and allow cameras in other cities with populations of 18,000 or more.

State representatives will decide if camera benefits outweigh costs.

Cameras in Erie and 11 other cities would operate at an annual loss of $10.7 million, according to a study released by the Pennsylvania Transportation Advisory Committee in November.

The major benefit of the cameras are "substantial" improvements in intersection safety, according to the study, which concluded that red light cameras be authorized statewide.

Red light violations have declined by almost 50 percent at 10 Philadelphia intersections scanned by cameras in the three years since they were installed. Crashes at those intersections declined by 24 percent, according to study findings.

Cameras could also make Erie intersections safer, especially along East and West 12th streets and East and West 26th streets, said Erie Traffic Engineer LeAnn Parmenter.

"We have lights at 200 intersections and obviously police can't be everywhere," Parmenter said. "The more serious crashes come from running red lights, or failure to stop. If people have it in their minds that they might possibly be on camera, they might be more cautious."

The cameras also save lives, said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, who sponsored the bill to authorize red light cameras statewide. Pileggi cited a February study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that estimates that 150 lives have been saved by the use of red light cameras in large cities nationwide in the past five years.

"My legislation will make Pennsylvania roads safer, and it will save lives," Pileggi said in a prepared statement.

Camera opponents cite studies that reached opposite conclusions and say that the millions of dollars it would cost to install and operate cameras statewide would be better spent to redesign dangerous intersections.

Accidents have increased 12 percent at Philadelphia intersections that have had cameras for at least a year, according to city police statistics published by the Philadelphia Inquirer in October.

The Best Highway Safety Practices Institute, which analyzes traffic laws, estimates that accidents, including fatal crashes, have increased nationwide at intersections with red light cameras.

"These cameras have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with money," Philadelphia drivers' activist Tom McCarey said. McCarey mailed thousands of postcards to newspapers and television stations statewide this week advocating for red light cameras to be shut down.

"These things are gold mines for cities. They're like having a printing press for money," McCarey said.

Philadelphia's red light cameras generated $13.7 million in fines in 2010-11. Of that, $6.1 million paid for camera operation, maintenance, staff and collection costs. The remaining $7.6 million was evenly split on transportation safety projects in Philadelphia and statewide.

Erie and other smaller cities would not profit from automated red light enforcement and wouldn't even collect enough fines to pay system costs, according to Transportation Advisory Committee estimates.

The committee estimates the cost to operate automated camera systems at 10 Erie intersections -- or 5 percent of those currently controlled by traffic signals -- at more than $4.4 million annually, and revenues from fines at just $674,846. The $3.7 million net loss would increase, according to the study, as drivers become more aware of the cameras and avoid violations and fines.

The study found that only Pittsburgh, besides Philadelphia, would profit from red light cameras, and only for one year.

To save costs, Erie City Council and other local governments could choose to mount cameras at only one or two dangerous intersections, or not at all.

"It's something that City Council would have to consider," Parmenter said.

VALERIE MYERS can be reached at 878-1913 or by e-mail.

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