Thursday, December 7, 2000
Mercury News

Red-light runners face more cameras

By Putsata Reang

With cars dominating the roads and pedestrians being injured and killed at alarming rates, San Francisco hopes the addition of more cameras to catch red-light runners will help tame its treacherous streets.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors this week accepted a gift of 11 cameras from the California Department of Transportation to help expand its Red Light Photo Enforcement Program-a program started in 1996 that has resulted in a decrease in the number of tickets issued at some intersections by as much as 80 percent.

Currently, 14 cameras keep 24-hour vigils over intersections where red-light runners abound. The cameras are timed to snap shots of cars from the front and back as they pass through red lights. The camera records license plate numbers, and violators receive a citation in the mail.

"We are trying to capture the most blatant red-light runner," said David Valle-Schwenk, project manager.

From 1996 to 2000, 25,785 tickets were issued to red-light runners caught by the cameras-about 6,000 per year, Valle-Schwenk said.

At specific intersections where the cameras are rolling, the number of citations has dramatically declined.

The first camera was installed at Fifth and Howard streets, where the police department had been issuing about 1,000 tickets per month. But since the camera was installed in 1996, that number has slid to 200 per month.

The traffic camera expansion comes at a time when various studies suggest San Francisco streets are becoming increasingly dangerous, especially for pedestrians.

So far this year, 25 pedestrians have died in San Francisco. Last year, 28 pedestrians died in traffic accidents.

"The red-light cameras are a great step forward, but they're only a small step forward" in making streets safer, said Michael Smith, director of Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian activist group.

Smith said he'd like to see more traffic officers patrolling the streets and more driver awareness programs.

However, red-light runners have been only one cause of pedestrian deaths and injuries.

In the first three months of this year, the San Francisco Police Department reported 286 injuries in traffic collisions that involved pedestrians. Only six were a result of a motorist running a red light. A majority were related to right-of-way violations in which pedestrians were struck in crosswalks.

Still, red-light running is a national problem. Across the country, drivers who run red lights are responsible for an estimated 260,000 crashes-resulting in approximately 800 deaths-each year, according to the Virginia-based Insurance Institute on Highway Safety, a non-profit organization that studies road safety. More than half of those who die are pedestrians.

"Running through traffic devices is a major cause of collisions and injuries in urban areas," said Richard Retting, senior transportation engineer at the institute, who has studied the use of cameras to deter red-light violators.

About a third of all crashes at intersections are caused by red-light runners, Retting said. And most people who speed through red lights have had previous speeding violations, he added.

With 23 deaths from 1992 to 1998, San Francisco ranked 39th in cities with populations over 200,000 for fatalities involving red-light runners, according to the institute.

Retting said cameras used in cities such as San Francisco have been effective in curbing the problem.

"The main benefit of cameras is that they serve as a deterrent. They change bad driving habits very quickly," Retting said. People are less prone to breaking the law if they know they're being watched, he added.

Contact Putsata Reang at preang@sjmercury.com or (510) 790-7316.