Green light for red light?

Although statistics show that red light cameras in Costa Mesa have increased the number of accidents where they monitor traffic, they have decreased the number of injury-related collisions, leading city staff to recommend doubling the number of photo-enforced intersections in the city.

City council members will vote tonight on whether to add red light cameras to four Costa Mesa intersections within the year. The cameras would be installed by Nestor Traffic Systems at Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Avenue, Harbor Boulevard and Baker Street, Harbor Boulevard and South Coast Drive, and Victoria Street and Placentia Avenue.

The intersections were chosen because of the number of cars that use them, the number of accidents and the number of violations observed.

A combined 86 accidents were reported at those intersections last year.

A study comparing the three years immediately before the installation of the existing red light cameras to the three years immediately after the installation shows a 10.4% increase in collisions after the cameras were put in, but the number of injuries decreased 15.5%.

City officials attribute this discrepancy to a decrease in dangerous broadside collisions and an increase in less serious rear-end collisions.

“People become familiarized with the locations of the red light cameras and rather than running the red lights they slam on their brakes and get rear-ended,” Lt. Dave Andersen said.

Critics of red light cameras argue they are more effective at ginning up money for the city because they lead to unnecessary citations than they are at preventing injuries. A recent Los Angeles Times investigation showed that 80% of Los Angeles’ red-light tickets were given for illegal right turns, which don’t often result in serious collisions.

Costa Mesa’s cameras aren’t programmed to give tickets for illegal right turns, though, officials said.

“[Illegal right turns] aren’t a significant cause of accidents. We’re not sanctioning it and saying that a California stop is permissible, but they’re not a significant cause of vehicular accidents,” City Manager Allan Roeder said.

Costa Mesa’s red light cameras are not a big source of revenue, even losing money some years, Roeder said.

“We’re trying to make it revenue-neutral to the city. This has never been about generating revenue. It’s about accident reduction,” Roeder said, adding that since the installation of the first cameras it’s been “pretty much a break-even endeavor.”

Mayor Eric Bever and Councilwoman Katrina Foley both said if the cameras help reduce injuries then the council should continue to use them.

“I support us having red light cameras in the city, and they’ve been shown to be a deterrent for serious accidents,” Foley said.

Efforts to contact the other three council members for comment were unsuccessful.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].