SAN DIEGO - Prior to reactivating its Red Light Photo Enforcement program in late April, the City of San Diego is seeking public input on the location of intersections where red light cameras will be installed.

To provide citizens with easy access to the proposed locations of the intersections, a web site explaining the program and camera locations has been placed on the Internet. Citizens are encouraged to email the City at redlightphoto@sandiego.gov with suggestions for sites as well as comments on the proposed locations. Residents are also encouraged to contact their local community-planning group to voice their opinion. The information will be factored in the site selection process for the program. To view locations and background information on the program, residents can go to the webpage at www.sandiego.gov and type in red light cameras in the search box.

The focus of the program is to stop people from running red lights, a traffic offense that causes over a million crashes nationwide each year. "Our goal is to make the intersections safer," says Transportation Director, Cruz Gonzalez. "Statistics have proven in city after city that this program saves lives." When the cameras were operational in San Diego previously, the accident rate dropped 44% at the monitored intersections and 33% overall.

The City's Traffic Engineering Division, in conjunction with the Police Department, chose the locations for photo monitoring based on a number of factors. "We looked closely at not only the high accident rate but also at the type of accidents at the intersections and the potential for gridlock," said Allen Holden, Deputy Director of Traffic Engineering. "All of these directly affect the safety of an intersection."Four sites have tentatively been scheduled to be reactivated in late April, with additional sites added periodically.

Red Light Photo cameras were installed at nineteen intersections in 1998. Each of these sites was reevaluated for reactivation. The following have been proposed to launch the program:

The City is also considering activating the four new sites listed below. This second group would be installed immediately after the first group is operational:

The first 30-days of operation for each camera site will be a warning period, within those 30 days motorists caught running the red lights will receive only a warning citation in the mail. After this grace period ends, violators will receive a full citation complete with photos of the incident. The citations carry a $321 penalty. There is an appeal process for the citations.

San Diego first activated the cameras in 1998. In 2001 the City halted the program for reevaluation, looking closely at the configuration of the cameras and the sensors. The new program has several changes including a longer 'yellow' phase for some lights, which will allow motorist more time to stop at the intersection. Each site will also have an additional camera so that both the front and back license plates will be photographed.

Red Light Photo Enforcement is gaining popularity nationwide as the system proves to be a successful deterrent to red light violations. Charlotte, North Carolina showed a drop of 72% in red light violations and a 25% decrease in total accidents at the twenty intersections with red light cameras. In Oxnard, California, the red light violation rate was reduced 40% several months after the enforcement program began. At intersections not equipped with red light cameras, there was a 50% reduction rate. San Francisco's number of red light violations dropped by 42% at photo-enforced intersections and collisions caused by red light running decreased by approximately 10% citywide. Twenty-nine municipalities in California alone now use Red Light Photo Enforcement, including the City of El Cajon.

The City of San Diego's Red Light Photo Enforcement Program is an attempt to make the streets of San Diego safer for motorists and pedestrians. It's a joint effort of the City's Traffic Engineering Division and Police Department. The Mayor, Council and Fire and Life Safety Services of the City of San Diego support the program. It is also endorsed by numerous safety organizations including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, California Peace Officers' Association, California Police Chiefs' Association, League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, International Association of Chiefs of Police, American Trauma Association, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. For more information on the program visit the City's website at http://www.sandiego.gov/engineering-cip/services/public/rlphoto/index.shtml.

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