Despite the fancy sensors and the latest technology, about half of red-light runners caught by high-tech cameras at certain busy intersections elude citations. Even so, cities are adding the cameras at a rapid pace, arguing that despite limitations, the cameras are reducing accidents and prompting motorists to think twice before gunning through red lights. The sophisticated systems--triggered by a motorist's speed when a light turns from yellow to red--began cropping up across Southern California four years ago, first in Oxnard and then Beverly Hills. Within the next year, some 20 area cities expect to be using them. Los Angeles, which began monitoring four intersections in December, plans to have 16 covered with cameras by the end of summer. Who gets away with red-light running when the camera is on is often a matter of chance. The pictures are not always clear enough to stand up in court, where judges require images of the license plate as well as the face of the driver. Sun!
glare, for example, can mar the camera's picture of either one. Also, some drivers have their heads down or turned toward a passenger. Gender mismatches are often thrown out--the driver is a man, for example, but the registered owner is a woman. Or maybe
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"That's 1,500 people causing potential accidents who have to pay a price they wouldn't otherwise pay," she said. In San Juan Capistrano, Sheriff's Department officials have been trying to perfect their court presentations to satisfy judges. "I don't even run yellow lights now," he said. "Our cameras don't capture your image unless you run a red light. Anaheim officials said they're not convinced of the camera's effectiveness. The city is already considering additional cameras even as it tries to perfect what officials consider shortcomings in the system. When Garden Grove council members last year agreed to a one-intersection test, traffic engineer George Allen knew the one he wanted: Brookhurst Street at Westminster Avenue. West Hollywood tr!
affic engineer Joyce Rooney said she isn't bothered that her city's citation rate of photographed motorists isn't higher. "What kind of right of privacy do you have driving a car?" countered Orange County Sheriff's Lt. But a survey of cities that use the red-light cameras suggests that the presence of the lights has cut accidents. " A selected few intersections is all that most cities can feasibly handle. To Crapo, a Saddleback College football coach, the picture evidence on his citation was inconclusive. A survey of traffic engineers and vendors found that about 50% of the photos taken are used to issue citations. In a few cases, a driver who triggered the camera managed to slam on the brakes and stop in time.
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