Despite controversy, city approves cameras to catch red light runners

11:57 AM CST on Wednesday, December 22, 2004

By Doug Miller / 11 News

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There will soon be more eyes above watching drivers on the streets of Houston, which has sparked a controversy over how to catch red light runners to protect people.

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The camera snaps a picture of the license plate and the owner of the car is mailed a ticket.

If you're one of those drivers who runs red lights in Houston, watch out. Pretty soon, red lights will be watching back.

"The whole purpose is to let people know that, you know, if you run a red light here you're going to be caught," said Mayor Bill White.

Caught in the act by cameras, which automatically snap pictures of cars running red lights.

The camera is set up before the traffic light and is connected to road sensors in the pavement. When a car passes over the detectors after the light has turned red, the camera snaps a picture of the license plate and the owner of the car is mailed a ticket.

The cameras to be installed are not the ones you might have already seen around town. Houston mounted those on traffic lights to keep an eye out for traffic jams.

But next year, red light tickets, which are now written out the old fashioned way, will be mailed out thanks to newfangled cameras.

"You've got less officers on patrol," said Hans Marticiuc with the Houston Police Officers Union. "You've got an accident division that sometimes already overworked to an extent. This makes all kinds of sense."

Paying for a red light camera ticket will actually be cheaper than paying a ticket written by an officer because they will be civil citations instead of criminal charges. Critics complain that might constitute a violation of state law and skeptics think the plan is all about the city raking in more cash.

"Taking pictures of car wrecks, of people running, and then sending them a ticket thirty days later in the mail will never solve the problem of red light running," said Paul Kubosh, defense attorney. "You need to have good engineering and immediate enforcement."

Only two council members voted against it. So Houston's red light cameras are expected to blink into life next spring. The mayor's office said the first so-called "pilot" cameras are to be installed by February.

City officials have identified about 50 intersections that they see as very dangerous. They believe that it is especially important for drivers to slow down and not run red lights at the specified locations.