Montgomery Advertiser - "East Montgomery to Get Red-Light Cameras"

News Article

Montgomery Advertiser - "East Montgomery to Get Red-Light Cameras"

City officials have released the locations for 10 intersections that will have red light traffic cameras which snap photos of red-light runners.

Drivers will begin seeing the devices on April 1 during the start of a 30-day trial period, ac­cording to mayoral assistant Mi­chael Briddell, who heads the city's Strategic Crime Commis­sion that has been exploring the use of the devices.

Violators will start receiving $50 tickets in their mailboxes starting May 1, Briddell said. Drivers in east Montgomery will see the devices at the inter­sections of Bell and Vaughn roads and Vaughn and Taylor roads, according to a news re­lease.

Georgia-based LaserCraft, one of five companies that made presentations to the city last year, was awarded the contract to install the devices, Briddell said in an e-mail earlier this month. Representatives from the company told a city commit­tee that the devices would come at no cost to taxpayers because they are self-supporting.

The devices are connected to traffic signals at the intersec­tions that monitor traffic flow at the crosswalk or stop line, ac­cording to literature from Laser Craft. The system continuously monitors the intersection above a pre-set minimum speed and triggers a time-elapsed camera system once a violator has driv­en through the intersection aft­er the light has turned red, the literature said.

The Bell and Vaughn road in­tersection will have cameras at all four approaches. That inter­section has numerous drivers who are on their way to the nearby Bruno's Food & Pharma­cy grocery store, the Bell Road YMCA or simply out for a quick trip to Brusters Ice Cream not too far away.

The Vaughn and Taylor road intersection is near the Halcyon South and Sturbridge Planta­tion subdivisions. That inter­section will have two of the de­vices for the east- and westbound approaches.

Council members approved the cameras Feb. 6, 2007, by a vote of 5-4. Their approval came after the same measure failed the year before by the same vote of 5-4.

In 2006, council members Tim Head, Willie Cook, C.C. Cal­houn, Janet May and James Nuckles voted against the cam­eras. Council members Charles Jinright, Jim Spear, Martha Roby and Glen Pruitt voted for the devices both years.

Head changed his vote last year, which led to council ap­proval of the devices.

No fines will be issued dur­ing the 30-day trial period, but violators will be mailed warn­ings, according to Briddell.

After May, they can expect to pay the $50 fine, he said previ­ously.

State legislators have not ap­proved the devices, but state Rep. David Grimes, R-Montgom­ery, hopes they will this session. Grimes has authored a bill that would legalize the use of red-light traffic cameras in Alaba­ma. His bill has failed five times before, he said, and has died in the Legislature's Public Safety Committee each time.

If Grimes' bill passes this ses­sion, drivers caught running a red light on camera would not have it on their driving records, he said.

But, they would pay a $150 fine each and every time they are caught on one of the camer­as, he said.

A percentage of that money would go to the state, city and public safety, he said.

They have the effect of a cop on every corner, he said, and it does not matter if people are against the devices.

"Bottom line is they need to slow down and follow the law," he said earlier this month.

Opponents to the cameras have expressed concern about the constitutionality of the de vices and have questioned pub­lic safety reasons given in sup­port of them.

Councilman Cook, who rep­resents the city's District 6, has said he wants an opinion from Attorney General Troy King that clearly states a municipali­ty could enforce red-light run­ning as a civil offense even though state law says it is a criminal violation.

Rick Larson of Laser Craft told city officials that drivers could challenge the tickets if they choose, but 85 percent of violators pay the fine.

The remaining 15 percent are often out-of-town drivers, he said.

Drivers who ignore the tick­ets can be flagged at their local driver's license office or public safety agency when they at­tempt to register their vehicle, he said.

Traffic engineering director Bubba Bowden said in Decem­ber that the city has 385 inter­sections to choose from. Camer­as will also be placed at: North Ripley Street and Madison Ave­nue; Carter Hill Road and Craw­ford Street; Perry Hill and Car­michael roads; Air Base Boulevard and Mobile Highway and at Ann Street and Highland Avenue.

Three of the locations where the devices will be are along Fairview Avenue at the Norman Bridge Road, Oak Street and Rosa Parks Avenue intersec­tions.

Mayor Bobby Bright has called the cameras a "no-brain­er."

"Every intersection out there has the potential," the mayor said in December.

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