Is Pinellas County Next?

Hillsborough Greenlights More Study Of Cameras At Red Lights

By Mike Salinero of The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

TAMPA - Cameras at red lights, which police say save lives and drastically cut the number of light-jumpers, may be coming to Hillsborough County in the near future.

Hillsborough County commissioners on Wednesday gave the sheriff's office a green light to further investigate installing the cameras at 10 of the county's most dangerous intersections. The intersections were not identified.

The cost of installing and maintaining the lights would be entirely funded through fines, sheriff's Cpl. Rob Rodriguez said.

"There will never be an expense to the taxpayers," Rodriguez said.

The lights have been effective in reducing the number of red light violators everywhere they've been tried, from New York to Apopka. The Central Florida town had nearly 300 violations at two intersections before the lights were installed. In the two months after installation, the number of violations dropped to 18.

In 2006, Hillsborough deputies wrote 4,800 red light violations, with three fatalities attributed to red light runners. In 2007, the sheriff's office caught 3,784 violators. One fatality was directly attributable to a red light violation that year.

"Those are just the ones that are proven," sheriff's Col. Greg Brown said. "The numbers are much higher."

Commission chairman Ken Hagan, who began the push for the cameras, admitted to occasionally running through a yellow caution signal. He said he would look back to see whether a police officer was watching.

"What I'd usually find is that two or three cars were following me," Hagan said.

Rodriguez said the sheriff's office would conduct public outreach before placing the cameras to let drivers know they're coming. For the first month, offenders would get a warning notice. He said there would be little cost increase to the courts because most drivers decline to contest the citations when they see the photographs of their vehicle in the intersection under a red light.

The photographs would be available online.

The traffic citations would be established under a county ordinance so there would be no points added to a driver's record and no reports to insurance agencies.

The main goal is not punishment, the deputies said, but to cut the number of violations and save lives.