Sheriff’s deputies using West Hollywood’s red light photo enforcement program, an updated version of which went live in March, may begin ticketing drivers who make illegal right turns at stop lights as well as those spotted running through them.
A report on the system will be presented tonight to the city’s Public Safety Commission, which will discuss the proposal to use the system to enforce the law prohibiting a driver from making a right turn at red light without stopping first.
The city agreed in 1999 to install a system in which cameras could capture images of vehicles running through red lights. The cameras were installed initially at six intersections and then at 24 approaches to eight intersections on major streets and boulevards such as Santa Monica, Beverly, Robertson and Fountain. According to the city’s report, generated by the Department of Public Works, the program has been successful in reducing accidents and violations in concert with other steps such as installing “count down” pedestrian indicators at traffic light signals and high visibility “zebra” style crosswalks.
By 2015 it was clear that the city’s old system was outmoded. For example, the photos it took used old-fashioned film that had to be developed using liquid chemicals rather than the digital photography process used today. The city dismantled that system and became installing a new one last year, which was in place and working late last year and early this year.
The city also analyzed the eight intersections where red light cameras had been installed to determine which, after other improvements had been in place, still needed them. The new red light system now is active at eight intersections:
— La Brea at Fountain (northbound)
— La Brea at Fountain (southbound)
— Beverly at Robertson (eastbound)
— Beverly at Robertson (westbound)
— La Brea at Santa Monica (eastbound)
— La Brea at Santa Monica (northbound)
— La Cienega at Melrose (northbound)
— La Cienega at Melrose (southbound)
The old system was used by law enforcement officers to identify cars that drive straight through an intersection while the light was red. But they didn’t pursue those who turned right at red lights without stopping because it was assumed they were moving at slower speeds and posing less of a hazard. The new cameras, however, can take videos which have alerted officers to more dangerous situations involving right turns on red. During a 30-day period ending on April 11 deputies saw 250 incidents in which motorists made right turns on red, about 100 of which involved vehicles driving at or over 15 miles an hour.
Because of that, the Sheriff’s Department proposes ticketing people who make right turns on red if their vehicle exceeds 15 miles an hour or 10 miles an hour if the department finds other safety concerns.
The Public Safety Commission meets at 6:30 p.m. today in the conference room on the first floor of City Hall, 625 Santa Monica Blvd. at Sweetzer.
And another thing 🙂 What about the pedestrians that enter the intersection crosswalks AFTER the signal reads DON’T WALK. They slow down traffic causing frustration that can lead to right on red roll turns. You have cameras, start ticketing them as well.
How does it make the intersections safer if drivers do not know that a camera exists until after they are through them?
kab1200 – yes, but they are not consistent. Sometimes they never even change to a countdown and will stay on don’t walk the entire time or the countdown ends and then it stays on don’t walk with no countdown for a short period before the light turns yellow. Then there are times when the countdown hits zero and the light immediately changes to yellow. They all have to always be the same, all the time and change to yellow when the countdown hits zero.
I know this article is about stopping for a right turn on a red light but I think 100% of traffic lights should have cameras that ticket people that run red lights. But they all must have a large countdown above the light displaying how long until the light will change to yellow, It needs to be large enough to be seen from at least a half a block away. So when you are a half a block away doing 40MPH you see that you only have 2 seconds before the light is going to change to yellow, you know… Read more »
Sam, the lights already have that. It is the count down for the pedestrians.
maybe the revenue from this nonsense can pay for some left-turn arrows at la cienega an melrose, and others. does no one think it’s weird that only in LA, it’s understood 3-4 cars can turn left on red, just keep things moving?
The key reason WeHo is now enforcing safe slow rolling right on red turns for high profits is the state changed the rules for the length of yellow intervals to be more realistic. That sharply reduced the number of safe drivers robbed for inadvertently tripping the red by 0.3 or 0.8 seconds because the yellow intervals were maliciously left or set too short to cause more safe drivers to cough up about $500 for the crime of driving safely.
Red light cameras are a total for-profit racket that no one should tolerate.
James C. Walker, National Motorists Association
You can ignore these tickets! If you have doubts, do a search on red light camera no consequence. (The ability to ignore red light camera tickets is only inside LA County, and only if you do not contact the court about the ticket.) Today’s article doesn’t mention that there’s a bill in the legislature, right now, to permit speed camera tickets (photo radar) in California. It is AB 342, and IMHO it is just about extracting money from motorists – a speed tax. The automated speeding tickets won’t carry points, so multiple tickets won’t deter unsafe motorists, if they have… Read more »
READ: it is about NOT STOPPING to turn on red. Not even yielding really. They are not ticketing just for making the turn.
This is CLEARLY a case of “do-gooder” government making people’s lives miserable.
If you want to know why Republicans win elections, look no further.
Right turn on red RLC “tickets” ARE NOT safety. And any claim that they are is DISHONEST!
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2693.asp “A review of US Department of Transportation statistics shows that an average motorist could drive a billion miles — the distance from Earth to Jupiter and back — before being involved in an accident that resulted from a motorist making a rolling stop on a right-hand turn.”
Clearly this is more about money, the safety claims are crap!
http://www.motorists.org
Ban the Cams on Facebook
Camerafraud on Facebook
There is still the legal issue of whether one who receives a video citation actually has to pay it. Most people don’t realize this.
As others have stated, this is a pure revenue grab. True public safety is done with signage,properly timed signals, highly visible crosswalks and visual law enforcement.
Two points. 1) The speed will be measured back from the intersection while cars are still slowing down, so the number will NOT measure the actual turning speed – it will inflate it falsely. 2) Federal research shows right on red turns, including those with or without a full stop, are involved in only six one-hundredths of one percent (0.06% or 0.0006) of all crashes with injuries or fatalities. Almost every slow rolling right on red ticket will go to a safe driver who endangered no one. The purpose is profits, not safety, but ticketing for profits is 100% wrong… Read more »