Lawmaker: Data Show NJ’s Red Lights Flawed

TINTON FALLS, N.J. (AP) —

A lawmaker who has been the most ardent critic of New Jersey’s red light camera program took up the cause again Monday and said he has video proof that thousands of motorists are being unfairly ticketed at intersections where yellow lights are too short in duration.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon presented videos that showed several intersections in northern New Jersey where yellow lights were supposed to be either three or four seconds long, based on the average traffic speed of the intersecting roads. Using a digital stopwatch in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, the videos appeared to show the yellow lights turning to red anywhere from one-tenth to one-quarter of a second early.

O’Scanlon said the difference might seem trivial but the reality is not: About 30 percent of violations occur in the first quarter-second of a light turning red, he said.

“It means you’re illegally ticketing and fining 30 percent of people,” O’Scanlon said.

In 2008, the Legislature authorized a five-year pilot program to determine whether the cameras reduced the frequency and severity of crashes at intersections with a history of motorists running red lights. Motorists have paid millions of dollars in fines because of the cameras; one small town in Gloucester County produced more than $1 million in paid violations from May 2011 through May 2012 from one intersection.

“Their appetite for your money is so voracious they rolled the dice,” O’Scanlon said, referring to the 25 towns that have the cameras and the companies that install and monitor them and receive a cut of the violations payments. “They count on us not paying attention.”

In June 2012, state officials suspended the program for a month after determining that 63 of the 85 cameras were not tested to ensure the yellow lights were timed properly and required towns to re-certify the cameras to specifications outlined in the legislation. The state announced this April that it had suspended plans to add more cameras before next December.

O’Scanlon said he would forward videos from more than a dozen intersections to the state Department of Transportation for review. He said he expected cameras at those intersections to be removed.

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!