Redlight runners are taking a collective $210,210 hit so far for not obeying the law at just three of the five Manteca intersections that will have camera and radar equipment designed to catch them in the act.
That represents 429 tickets being issued in seven weeks.
And it includes one where the driver was caught blowing through a redlight at 81 mph on North Main Street at Northgate Drive.
Manteca Police Chief Stephen Schluer said officers have approved 84 percent of the potential red light violations forwarded to them for review.
Sixteen percent were rejected because the driver couldn’t clearly be identified or officers determined the data regarding the violation didn’t meet rigid state standards to justify a citation or were close to borderline.
Schluer stressed enforcement — which is being done to change habits to reduce red-light running intersection mishaps that account for 20 percent of Manteca’s annual traffic collisions — is driven by the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.
The police chief noted there has been some confusion about whether the red light cameras are a “cost effective use of city money” when it comes to snagging red light runners.
The bottom line is the red light cameras aren’t costing the city anything.
And they legally can’t under California law.
The risk is being taken by American Traffic Systems.
They are the firm that has installed cameras and radars on 14 approaches to five intersections.
The contract is structured as follows:
*ATS bills the city $5,200 for each approach on a monthly basis.
*That means the city will be billed $873,600 a year.
*The city’s share of the $490 ticket is roughly $100. The balance goes to the court system and the state.
*There would need to be 8,736 tickets issued in a year’s time for ATS to earn the full amount of $873,600.
*If not enough tickets are issued so the city can cover the yearly cost of the red light cameras, whatever amount the city still owes is wiped off the books in keeping with state law that the city can’t lose money in any red light camera contract.
*Should the city issue more than the number of tickets needed to reach $873,600, the city will then keep its $100 share of each subsequent ticket in a given year.
*The City Council is requiring any revenue that exceeds the $837,000 mark would be set aside to help beef up the traffic division within the Manteca Police Department.
*The bottom line is the city isn’t out any money.
Some might argue the city is losing its $100 share of each ticket up until 8,736 tickets are issued.
The tickets, however, would not have been issued without the red light cameras in place.
Even with two of the intersections targeted for red light cameras not being up and running or out of the 30-day warning only grace period, Manteca is on pace to issue 5,148 tickets over a 12-month period.
What “cost” the city occurs is involved with traffic division and command staff reviewing the tickets and possibly having to appear in court.
That said, significantly more enforcement tickets are being issued than if the department relied 100 percent on its traffic officers that patrol more than 300 lane miles of city streets.
How the contract is structured underscores the reason why the police department recommended the red light cameras and the City Council agreed.
It is an education/enforcement effort to reduce collisions and enhance the safety of motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
Not only are red light runners a contributing factor in 20 percent of the 1,000 plus annual traffic collisions on city streets, but such accidents can cost in excess of $8,000 on average.
As such, reducing red light running will address the largest source of financial losses for breaking the law in Manteca and also address the fact intersection collisions are the leading way of being physically image as the result of an illegal act.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
