Put on the red light -- report says intersection cameras working
Albemarle County saw 21 auto fatalities last year.
By:
|
The Daily Progress
Published: January 31, 2012
Published: January 31, 2012
The red-light cameras at West Rio Road and U.S.
29 South improved safety and made Albemarle County some money,
according to a report the Board of Supervisors will hear today.
The county saw $90,458.45 in revenue from traffic
tickets generated by the cameras, and wrecks caused by people running
red lights dropped from three in 2010 to none in 2011, the report said.
According to Sgt. Darrell Byers of the Albemarle
police, that money will be channeled into traffic safety initiatives
around the county.
“This money is going to be reinvested into the
police department for traffic safety initiatives,” he said. “We’re going
to be going out in some of these areas where we’ve seen some of these
21 fatalities in this last year and actively enforcing seatbelt laws and
drunk driving laws.”
According to the report, the money will also fund
drunk driving goggles for driver impairment education, educational
materials for the public, bicycle safety handouts and training manuals
for officers helping to teach teenage drivers.
According to the report, of the nine counties in
Virginia with full-service police departments, Albemarle ranks near the
bottom for avoiding fatal wrecks and wrecks with injuries.
Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd said that data surprised him, and made the cameras seem that much more important.
“The whole idea was to improve safety countywide,
and I was a bit taken aback to find out that we are one of the most
dangerous traffic areas statewide,” he said. “The idea is to make the
intersections safer, not to make money on it. My hope is that we start
losing money on it, because that indicates that we have improved
safety.”
Byers said the cameras, part of the county’s
PhotoSafe program, are not designed as revenue earners. Instead, Byers
said, the goal is for revenue from traffic tickets to steadily decline
as safety improves at the two camera sites.
“You should see a downward spiral as relates to
fines in that area. That would enhance our position that this isn’t a
revenue maker, it’s about safety,” Byers said. “If we get to the point
that we start to see a drop-off, as we should, then we may move to
another intersection or dismantle the program.”
The report the supervisors will hear at today’s
regular meeting indicates that the county issued a total of 5,159
summonses based on camera evidence. The $90,000 is the county’s take
after vendor’s fees, which run roughly $4,900 a month for each camera,
are collected.
The cameras are operated under an agreement with
vendor Redflex. Byers said Redflex is responsible for the maintenance of
the cameras, which the county contracts for on a month-to-month basis.
According to Boyd, though money from the cameras
will eventually drop off, there is no financial risk to the county. The
county, he said, is only responsible for paying up to the $4,900 monthly
fee out of the ticket revenues generated by the cameras. Once that
money starts drying up, Redflex will pick up the tab, he said.
“There was no risk to us, because we had to pay up
to $4,900 in fees we collected, and after that the company starts losing
money, the county is not supposed to lose money, that’s the contract we
signed,” he said.
Byers said that the volume of traffic in the area
and the number of red-light violations make it impossible to have a
police officer patrol the area for potential violations.
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Ann H. Mallek said
she is satisfied with the program’s success so far. Mallek reiterated
that the program is not designed as a moneymaking venture.
“We did not ask for a program that made money; we
asked for a program to alleviate fatalities and rear-enders, so I’m
satisfied with it so far, but we need to keep evaluating these things,”
she said.
Other data from the report indicate rear-end
collisions dropped from six in 2010 to two in 2011 at the Rio Road
light, and from 10 to seven at U.S. 29 in that area.
Mallek said she would hold off judgment on whether to place similar cameras at other intersections.
“We need to be very careful about where we employ
it, where it can be most effective … I will rely on the recommendation
of the police department as to where else to put it in,” she said.
According to the report, the two camera locations
clicked 11,233 total times in their first year of operation. Of those
photos, Redflex rejected 3,374. The Albemarle County Police Department
reviewed a total of 6,509 incidents, rejecting 1,350.
The cost to the county has been 444 hours of total
staff time, the report said. The report based that calculation on the
average time two officers spent reviewing incidents and preparing for
court. The monetary cost of staff time was not available by press time.
Please contact us if you have legal questions.
Tucker Griffin Barnes P.C.
Charlottesville, Virginia
434-973-7474
TGBLaw.com
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