TX - El Paso to expand RLC Program
Council Expands Red Light Camera Program
by Rene Leon
Lozano supported the expansion, after voting against the ordinance in 2006. “I voted no. Looking back, what is the problem,” he said, explaining his change of position. “The reality is about saving lives. If you cross a red light, you get a ticket.”
Posted on March 7, 2007
The El Paso City Council on Tuesday voted to expand the red light camera program and eliminate the previously established twelve-month trial period. Voting for the expansion were Representatives Alex Lozano, Presi Ortega, Steve Ortega, and Beto O’Rourke. Mayor John Cook cast the tie-breaking vote. The Council also voted unanimously to add an affirmative defense for drivers who make a legal right or left turn after stopping.
Assistant Police Chief Paul Cross pointed out that El Paso is not alone in enacting a red light camera ordinance. He said 12 cities in Texas, including El Paso, have photo-enforced intersections, and 20 cities are looking into adopting similar programs.
Cross provided the Council with statistics supporting the Police Department’s assertion that the cameras are effective in reducing the number of accidents caused by red light runners. He said that while crashes citywide have increased 7.6 percent, crashes occurring at intersections with cameras have decreased 21 percent. Cross also provided other statistics to the Council; stop-and-run crashes have decreased 83 percent, and right angle collisions saw a decrease of 56 percent. Rear-end collisions remained the same.
The program began in October of 2006 with 1,842 drivers receiving warnings for running red lights at photo-enforced intersections. The Police Department began issuing citations in November, with 1,832 citations being issued. The following month saw the amount of citations drop to 1,249, and that number further decreased in January to 1,118. The overall decrease in violations from October 2006 to January 2007 was 39 percent.
During that time period, citations issued at camera-controlled intersections generated $75,000 in fines. From that, the City received $25,000. The remaining $50,000 went to Redflex Traffic Systems, the company contracted to administer the program.
During his presentation to Council, Cross played video clips of several near-collisions recorded at photo-enforced intersections. The clips showed the severity of the risk posed to all drivers when one runs a red light.
After seeing the video, Representative Eddie Holguin expressed his doubts of the program. “It defeats the purpose of a camera if they still run the red light,” he said. According to Holguin, nine national studies have shown red light cameras do not work in lowering the number of accidents.
Replying to Holguin’s statement, Cross said, “With all due respect, that is incorrect.” Holguin added he had documentation backing his claim, and he would share this information with the Department. Cross, too, cited statistical information to support the Department’s position, including a Federal Highway Administration study backing the effectiveness of red light cameras.
Representative Susie Byrd defended the program. “We are in fact changing driver behavior,” she said. However, she voted against ending the trial period along with Reps. Ann Morgan Lilly, Melina Castro, and Holguin.
Lozano supported the expansion, after voting against the ordinance in 2006. “I voted no. Looking back, what is the problem,” he said, explaining his change of position. “The reality is about saving lives. If you cross a red light, you get a ticket.”
Castro told Cross she could not understand the comparison of how many lives were lost before the ordinance and how many lives have been saved by since. When she asked how many fatalities have occurred at red light camera intersections since October 2006, Cross replied, “zero.”
O’Rourke said that he was initially in favor of his commitment to the trial period, but he now supports expanding the program. “Reading the statistics compels me to step forward and get behind this,” he said.
Byrd added to the debate by saying that in building so many subdivisions throughout the area, the City is also building with them dangerous intersections. She said that is something to consider when Council will look into a subdivision ordinance.
Larry Wilder, a citizen speaking against the ordinance, claimed the 20 intersections identified as the most dangerous were not those that received cameras. Cross said that 13 of those 20 were located on the eastside alone. “We couldn’t place all of the cameras in one part of town,” he said.
The program will now grow from 11 intersections to 21. Cross said that Redflex is busy installing similar systems in communities across the country and that it may take a couple of months for them to return to the area to install more cameras.
Cross stated the Police Department’s first priority is to install cameras at several identified intersections along Joe Battle Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare in far-east El Paso. He also said the department would look into more cameras for the Northeast as it continues to grow.
