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Red-Light Cameras on Hold in Margate
• Vendor RFP to be revised
Saturday,
August 29, 2009
Due to an overwhelming number of lawsuits contesting red-light camera citations in Pembroke Pines and other Florida municipalities, Margate officials have suspended approving Margate’s red-light camera RFP this week until language can be inserted to indicate that the vendor awarded the contract will help defray the cost of civil lawsuits.
This is the third postponement to the introduction of red-light cameras in Margate. Had Margate installed the devices months ago, Margate taxpayers could be in the same boat as Aventura, Miami Gardens, Juno Beach and Orlando, where hundreds of motorists have joined a class-action lawsuit claiming that their constitutional rights have been violated.
Pembroke Pines (where Margate City Attorney, Eugene Steinfeld sits as a Special Master), has issued more than $100,000 in red-light camera fines since last year and will soon become a hot-bed for lawsuits, say Sun-sentinel reports. Steinfeld cautioned Margate Commissioners Wednesday to hold off on approving red-light cameras for the city until Margate’s RFP can be revised.
Whether red-light cameras violate a citizen’s due process has yet to be proven. State law does not allow municipalities to issue traffic citations for red-light camera violations but, to get around that, Florida cities currently participating in red-light programs issue code violations – a tactic to which the state presently has no recourse.
Proponents of red-light cameras say the lawsuits are the result of lawyers looking for new markets in a down economy and that the threat of litigation to cities will soon blow over.
Critics of the device say there is little evidence that red-light cameras make intersections safer and indeed may make them more dangerous.
Red-Light Cameras Increase Accidents: 5 Studies That Prove It.
Red-light Cameras Increase Crashes, Florida Researchers Find.
Running red lights proven deadly
More than 100,000 crashes a year are caused by drivers running red lights, killing some 950 people and injuring 90,000 others, making it a leading cause of fatal crashes in metropolitan areas, according to the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
High fatality rates for red-light-running crashes is partly attributable to the fact that they are usually ‘T-bone,’ or side-impact crashes involving high speeds (since drivers often accelerate to get through a red light quickly). Images of vehicles broadsided at intersections often show cars cut in two or with pulverized midsections.
Why do people run red lights?
Surveys conducted by the Center for Urban Development point to notable findings. Reasons given by respondents varied from "couldn't stop in time" (41%) to "in a hurry" (21%). Five percent claimed to be "afraid that the car behind them would hit them" while 4% said that they ran the red light because "no other cars were around."
Survey results also showed that motorists who run red-lights are often the same people who excessively speed. And although not yet linked directly to running red-lights in studies, cell phone behavior while driving is increasingly causing accidents on Florida roads and may be a contributing factor to running red lights, say traffic analysts.
Cash Cow
Red-light cameras are a potential cash cow for cities, and if there were ever a time Florida cities needed money it would be now – including Margate. Just one intersection in Pembroke Pines has yielded more than $100,000 in fines since March, reports the Sun-Sentinel, and the City of Ft. Lauderdale is looking to collect almost $2 million a year should they move forward with their program.
Considering vendors supply all the equipment in exchange for a percentage of fines collected, cities pay only for the cost for administering the program.
What happens if people stop running red lights?
If violations fall below a certain level, the city either begins to pay for the service or sends the cameras back to the vendor.
Violation of due process?
Motorists who don’t run red-lights have no worries regarding the use of cameras, say police, unless they find themselves the victim of some type of camera malfunction, say attorneys.
Is Big Brother overstepping his bounds? Only time will tell. Photo traffic enforcement at the local level has the potential to save police man hours, generate revenues for the city and discourage the running of the red lights – ultimately saving lives.
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Opinion:
As a Margate resident and one whose days of running red-lights is over, I’m all for the devices if they’re going to generate significant revenues for our city – as long as the cameras don’t evolve into an insidious monitoring device that violates privacy (although video capabilities might enable these cameras to track bad guys on the run). Anyone who runs a red-light, impairing the lives of the unassuming and innocent, deserves to get caught, especially since, on average, 18 people a week in the U.S. don’t ever go home to their family and friends again because they or someone else ran a red light as a result of being late for work or spacing-out while texting or talking on their cell phone.
If red-light cameras do come to Margate, what will the city do with funds? Will the totality of revenues go to law enforcement or be shared with taxpayers to improve Park & Rec programs, reduce taxes or add or enhance services?
MargateNews.net welcomes your comments on this matter. Email MargateNews@bellsouth.net.
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