Council voted to approve an ordinance Monday night authorizing the use of "automated red light enforcement systems."
Norristown Council gave the green light for use of automated red light enforcement systems, or red light cameras, at a Jan. 7 meeting, Norristown Patch reports. The state legislature passed a bill in June giving certain Montgomery County municipalities the option to adopt the practice and council discussed the issue at a Dec. 18 meeting where it decided to move forward with the project on the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee and the Norristown Police Department. Read the full story on Norristown Patch. Lower Merion Township's Board of Commissioners also discussed red light cameras this fall, with several commissioners voicing support for the potential program. Likely 12 to 15 intersections would have cameras installed if Lower…
Other municipalities with the cameras have experienced mixed effects on accident frequency.
Lower Merion’s police superintendent on Wednesday described a potential red light camera system that would largely pay for itself, part of the reason several Board of Commissioners members favored the idea. Superintendent Michael McGrath told commissioners a new bill passed by the state legislature this year allows municipalities of 20,000 people or more to install cameras at certain intersections for the purpose of policing red-light runners. A contractor would operate the cameras, the township would process the tickets, and the revenue from the tickets is meant to cover the cost of the program, with some left over to send to the state for redistribution through transportation grants. The prospect was attractive to several commissioners…
Costs may keep red light cameras in the city and out of suburban intersections.
It’s now legal for red light cameras to come to some local neighborhoods, but economics may keep them away. In June, the legislature passed House Bill 254, which basically allowed for the cameras to be used in Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Bucks counties as well as Pittsburgh starting in September, and reauthorize the red light camera program in Philadelphia through July 2017. Municipalities eligible for the red light cameras would have to exceed 20,000 residents and have full-time police forces accredited by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association. That means red light cameras could be coming to: Chester County: West Chester, West Goshen, West Whiteland townships Delaware County: Media Borough; Haverford, Radnor, Upper Darby …
Linux Guy
5:34 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Please note that with proper engineering, there is no need for red-light cameras. If you set an 85th percentile free-flowing speed limit, extend the yellow duration, have a decent-length all-red interval, and use sensors to keep an all-red, the problems go away. Also, note that the National Motorists Association has a ticket challenge. If a municipality works with the NMA and the problems fail to… more ›