Board of Supervisors set to consider photo-red system

Motorists in Albemarle County could soon face red-light cameras at some of the area’s busiest intersections as police look for ways to stop traffic violators.

Members of the county police department are scheduled to meet with the Board of Supervisors today to discuss photo-red systems, a traffic monitoring program that would place cameras at key intersections in the county.

“We’re doing the research as the county asked us to do,” Albemarle police Lt. Todd Hopwood said. “This is a way to keep people from running a red light. I wouldn’t call it a revenue generator.”

If approved, cameras would be placed at up to nine intersections and take pictures of the license plates on vehicles that run red lights. Those photos could lead to a $50 fine for the vehicle’s owner.

The issue is not up for vote today and would have to go before a public hearing before the board could vote on it.

County officials have been interested in the photo-red systems for several years, Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said. The cost of the equipment and how it would be maintained are just some of the questions that must be answered before the board can move forward, Rooker said.

“The primary purpose of this is to enhance the safety at dangerous intersections,” Rooker said. “There are some challenges and we have to work through those.”

Police have identified five intersections where cameras are most needed: The intersections of U.S. 29 and Rio Road; U.S. 29 and Hydraulic Road; U.S. 29 and Greenbrier Drive; U.S. 29 and Woodbrook Drive; and Richmond and Stony Point roads.

“We’ve had problems at these intersections for years,” Hopwood said. “We’ve written tickets out there because we’ve gotten complaints.”

The photo-red system would help control traffic violators while protecting officers from getting hurt while trying to enforce those busy intersections, Hopwood said.

“The camera system would pay for themselves with ticket revenue,” Hopwood said.

Opponents of traffic cameras say they infringe upon a driver’s rights and actually cause rear-end accidents. The solution to stopping people from running red lights is to lengthen the yellow-light intervals by seconds, said Jim Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association.

“If you fix the intersection, the red light running goes away,” Baxter said.

The NMA is a national organization that works to promote the rights of motorists through education and litigation.

Baxter said Virginia’s new law is better than the old one, but still doesn’t address the issue of extending yellow-light intervals. He said that is the best way to keep people from running red lights, arguing that traffic cameras are really just a way to generate revenue.

In 2007, state legislators passed a law allowing jurisdictions to enact ordinances for photo-red systems targeting red-light runners and those who make improper left or right turns.

In 1995, state legislatures approved red light running cameras as “experimental” technology and gave the law 10 years to see how it would work, Virginia Beach police Officer Brian Walters said. During that time, only a handful of cities in Northern Virginia and Virginia Beach used the technology.

Ten years later, the General Assembly voted not to renew the camera law. A Virginia Department of Transportation study that year showed an overall increase in traffic accidents at intersections where cameras were placed.

Since then jurisdictions across the state have rallied to get the law back on the books, Rooker said. Both Charlottesville and Albe-marle County officials have worked with legislators on the matter.

The current law allows a locality to install cameras at one intersection per 10,000 residents, but they must perform traffic safety studies and obtain approval from VDOT before cameras can be put in place.

County police have completed some of the traffic-safety studies at the intersections, Hopwood said.

Virginia Beach is the only jurisdiction in Virginia that has photo-red systems in place, although several other cities are getting systems on board, Hopwood said.

In Virginia Beach, 12 cameras have been placed at six intersections since March. The city contracts with a company and pays a set monthly fee for the service, Walters said. The company sets up and maintains the cameras, the police department approves all citations before they are made and the city collects the money, he said.

Some jurisdictions, including Virginia Beach, are focusing on people who make improper right turns on red, although there is no indication these types of infractions cause a high number of accidents, Baxter said.

“The cameras are only financially feasible if you maintain a high number of violators,” Baxter said. “Including motorists who make [improper] right turns on red is just a way to make money.”

Virginia Beach was among a handful of cities that had traffic cameras in place in 2005 when they became illegal in Virginia. The newer cameras have better technology and are more efficient, Walters said.

“It’s almost like playing a preseason football game,” Walters said. “We’ve learned what to do and what not to do.”

The monthly fees are paid through revenue collected from the traffic citations, Walters said.

“It’s our goal to stop red-light running,” Walters said. Although statistics on the number of tickets generated from the cameras have been gathered, the Virginia Beach Police Department is not releasing that information until September.

“The cameras don’t take the place of a police officer,” Walters said. “They enforce the [traffic laws] in the police officer’s absence.”