The financial hit motorists are taking for running red lights at five intersections has surpassed $3.9 million.
And that’s in just eight months of the first red light cameras going operational at Daniels Street and Airport Way.
It also includes weeks of construction at North Main and Louise with periods where no tickets were issued during traffic control as road work was underway.
November red light ticket totals as of the 26th were a record 1,306 for one month.
As of Nov. 26, Manteca Police has issued 7,941 red light tickets.
The City Council went with red light cameras to address growing complaints from citizens about motorists not just running red lights but wantonly accelerating significantly above the speed limit to do so after lights for cross traffic turned green.
Red light running also accounted for 20 percent of Manteca’s 1,000 plus annual traffic collisions.
A simple “fender bender” defined by an intersection crash where no one sustains injuries serious enough to require treatment, is now approaching $10,000 an incident.
That means intersection crashes tied to red light running cost Manteca motorists and insurers in excess of $2 million a year in property damages alone, more than any other category for unlawful acts when it comes to losses people incur including auto theft and burglary.
The goal from the start has been to use the financial sting of fines to get compliance to driving laws regarding red light and not just at the five intersections.
Ideally, it will have a spillover effect at the Manteca’s other intersections with signals
The city is rapidly approaching 100 intersections with signals.
At the current pace, Manteca will end up issuing 11,880 red light tickets in the first 12 months.
City won’t lose money
As for some that have expressed concern the city may be losing money some months to cover the red-light cameras, that won’t happen.
The city’s contract with American Traffic Systems complies to a state mandate that cities that employ the technology cannot lose money on the proposition.
As a result, ATS — if the city doesn’t collect enough in fines during billing periods to cover the monthly contract costs — dismisses the balance.
Over the course of 12 months, the ATS contract has a maximum cost to the city of $873,600.
The “break-even” point when the ATS contract is covered is around 7,800 tickets a year.
Manteca has already exceeded that point with four months to go
Keep in mind, Manteca only receives roughly 20 percent of every $490 red light runner ticket.
The bulk goes to the court system and the State of California.
Manteca starts accumulating money to spend on the traffic unit after its share of ticket revenue has covered the $873,600 ATS contract.
Seconds count when it
comes to red light tickets
Seconds count when it comes to making sure red light camera violations meet the California legal threshold to make a $490 ticket stick.
Those seconds between a yellow and red that trigger whether a driver should have stopped instead of crossing the line are based on various factors such as the city posted speed limit and whether it is a straight lane or left turn lane.
The length of the yellow signal is one of several questions several readers have poised regarding the City of Manteca’s red or camera program that started in April
The guidelines for yellow-to-red timing is based on state law.
Engineers then apply the guidelines to specific intersections and specific lanes.
As an example northbound Main Street at Northgate in the straight lanes are yellow for 3.6 seconds where the northbound Main Street at Northgate in the left turn lane is yellow for 4.4 seconds.
Signal timing has to pass state and court standards before a legal ticket can be issued.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
