One year after a contractor put a stop to its controversial camera program, the city of Santa Maria is calling on Little Brother to combat red light runners.
Promoted as a cheaper and easier-to-install way of reducing violations, tiny red light detection sensors called “Enforcers” will soon appear atop traffic signals throughout the city.
The Enforcers—weighing little more than a pound each and significantly more inconspicuous than their camera cousins—are mounted to the top of traffic signals and activate when the light turns red, indicating when a driver has run the light.
According to their manufacturer—Vista, Calif.-based McCain Inc.—the sensor’s LED indicator lights can be seen from hundreds of feet away and are angled to allow police officers to see them go off anywhere within view of the intersection’s limit line.
City Public Works Director Dave Whitehead said the devices would serve the City Council’s desire to have some degree of red light enforcement until a suitable replacement camera system can be found.
“It enhances the traffic officers’ ability to actually enforce and perfect a citation,” Whitehead said. “This way the officer can be in a location where he can see both the indication and the limit line, and he should be able to get out of there and pursue the violator without being in danger of being hit by another car.”
Whitehead said the sensors would cost less than $100 each, paid for out of a $27,000 fund generated from tickets issued by the now-suspended Red Light Enforcement Program (RLEP).
Red light camera contractor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) ended its rental agreement with the city in November 2009 and removed its camera hardware in February of this year. The cameras’ previous owner, Nestor Traffic Systems, installed four cameras at the intersections of Miller Street and Betteravia Road, and Miller Street and Stowell Road, in 2006. Nestor went bankrupt in 2009, and ATS bought the cameras and equipment before terminating its contract with the city, citing cost considerations.
During the city’s three-year camera enforcement program, police issued a total of 2,249 citations.
According to Whitehead, the city searched for a new contractor who would agree to a cost-neutral program, as recommended by the City Council, but was unsuccessful. A single contractor responded to the city’s proposal, but determined the program wouldn’t be “lucrative enough” to pursue.
Whitehead said Public Works officials will meet with the police department to identify intersections to locate the sensors and determine how many to order. City staffers will perform their installation, though no timetable is set.
Unlike its policy on cameras, Caltrans will allow the city to place Enforcers along Broadway Street with a special encroachment permit. The waiting list for the permit is several months.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 2, 2010.
