Red Light Cameras a Go

Following a lengthy public hearing, the Abington Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance late Thursday night allowing the use of automated red light cameras at three township intersections. The ordinance was amended to expire one year from the implementation of the cameras ... unless the board takes action to extend it.

Abington was one of 13 municipalities in Pennsylvania approved to consider red light cameras because of its size and its police department’s accreditation status.

The three intersections to get robot eyes are:

• Old York and Susquehanna roads
• Old York and Old Welsh roads
• Moreland and Fitzwatertown roads

Here are some of the basics.

The cameras:

• Capture the date, time, posted speed, approximate speed of vehicle, color of the light, length of the previous yellow light, length of red signal, and plate
• Shoot only the rear image of a vehicle
• Are not permitted to be used for surveillance
• The vendor installs, maintains and transfers the images to the Abington Police Department
• The cost to maintain the cameras is estimated to be $5,000 per month per intersection  

The fine:

• Is a civil fine
• Is $100
• There will be a 60-day warning period upon implementation
• Does not interfere with insurance premiums
• Is linked to the vehicle, not the driver
• Funds in excess of running the program go back to PennDOT for transportation enforcement grants

Of note:

• If the driver can prove that he or she wasn’t driving the vehicle at the time, the driver does not have to say who was driving.
• An Abington Police officer will review each alleged violation, bringing a human element into the mix … should a first responder or someone in a funeral procession get tagged
• An Abington Police officer has to sign each citation.
• The length of a yellow light is calculated by PennDOT and is dependent on a road’s width and speed limit. 

Abington Police Chief William Kelly kicked off the hearing by reading some township crash data. According to Kelly, last year there were 1,879 traffic violation-caused crashes, which resulted in 185 injuries and two fatalities. He added that there were 35 crashes in the corner of Moreland and Fitzwatertown roads; 41 crashes in the corner of Old Welsh and Old York roads; and 110 crashes in the corner of Old York and Susquehanna roads. (Neither of the two fatalities happened at any of the above intersections.)

He called the corner of Old York and Susquehanna roads the “most dangerous place in the township,” and has long maintained that it is difficult to do traffic enforcement at all three of the intersections listed above.

“We have a problem, we’ve had for a number of years,” Kelly said. “We know this is the most dangerous intersection in the township for crashes. We’ve had people out there — had engineers out there trying to improve the situation — but it continues to be the most dangerous place.”

So how exactly do you run a red light?

“It’s really very simple,” Abington Police Chief William Kelly said. “You’re not allowed to enter the intersection after the light turns red. If you’re in the intersection before it the light turns red, you’re not committing a violation … if a portion of your car is past the [stop] line, you are in the intersection.”

Commissioner Steven Kline, who was the sole commissioner to vote against the ordinance, said residents in his community are more concerned with speeding and blowing stop signs rather than red light violations. He said that cameras won’t stop people from blowing through the red lights and added that he’d like to have a conversation with PennDOT about extending the length of yellow lights.

“If this is a systemic problem — people running red lights — in my 5-and-a-half to 6  years as commissioner, this is the first time I’ve heard of it,” Kline said.

A handful of residents spoke on the issue; they seemed split.

Resident Michael Curtis Sr. said he supported the idea of the cameras and added that having the cameras would free up the officers’ time.

One resident compared the addition of red light cameras to living in China or downtown Washington, D.C.

“It’s like you’re under surveillance all the time,” she said. “’Safety’ is always used as a first excuse to get rid of people’s liberties.”

And resident John DiPrimio said he didn’t think the cameras would be effective because there are no insurance points attached to the fine. He called the fine a “nuisance” and said the cameras will divert traffic from Old York Road onto smaller, neighborhood roads.

In mid November, the firm Public Policy Polling asked 900 Montgomery County residents what they thought of red light cameras. Sixty-five percent of Abington residents approve of the cameras; 76 percent of Norristown residents approve; and 63 percent of Lower Merion residents approve. 

DiPrimio also called the cameras ugly … and most people agreed with that.

The township will seek RFPs from red light camera vendors; don’t expect to see the cameras until late 2013 or early 2014.