Council Eyeing Plan for Red Light Camera at Route 1 and 522 Intersection

The Township Council is pursuing entry into a Department of Transportation program to install red light cameras at intersections in South Brunswick that have a history of accidents.  The council had considered taking part in the original DOT pilot program in early 2009, but decided against it becayse of a lack of statistics.

"At the time council was tentative about moving forward because there was no data and we didn't want to be a test site for the state," said Public Affairs Coordinator Ron Schmalz.  

The township originally pursued a proposal to install the camera at the intersection of Route 1 and Henderson Road, but now will ask the state to change that proposal to the intersection of Route 1 and Route 522.  

In 2010, there were 36 motor vehicle crashes at the Route 1 and Henderson Road intersection with seven of those accidents involving bodily injury.  During that same time frame there were 38 motor vehicle accidents at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 522 with four of those accidents involving bodily injury.

Schmalz said that after collecting data, both in the state and nationally, results show a significant decrease in front-to-side, or t-bone, collisions but show an increase in rear-end collisions.  The trade off, however, is that injuries in front-to-side collisions are generally much more severe than those in rear-end collisions, according to Schmalz.

National statistics for intersections with red light cameras show a decrease in front-to-side collisions by about 40 percent, while they show an increase in rear end collisions at the intersections by 36 percent, Schmalz said.  

He also added that violations go down at the intersections, which have signs warning drivers of the cameras.  In Philadelphia, intersections with red light cameras saw a 30 to 40 percent reduction in violations.

The state DOT has a list of towns who are interested in participating in the program, so to remain on that list the council needs to move forward to express their interest in the program or be bumped.

The program would involve an independent company installing the cameras then reviewing the data.  All of this would be at no cost to the township.  Once a red light occurs, the camera is triggered and violations that are captured on film would forwarded to the South Brunswick Police Department to issue citations.

Schmalz said each violation would take about one minute to review. Violations caught on film would be considered non-moving violations and would carry an $85 fine.  The SBPD would also have the right to use discretion when reviewing the footage and not issue a citation if they felt it wasn't warranted.

Those issued a citation would also have the right to an appeals process, specifically in instances where they were not the person driving their vehicle.  

"I think it's important for us to get a sense of this and see if we like how it works," said Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray.  "It would educate people to take the extra time and let a light cycle through."

The council decided to move forward with adopting the ordinance in order to establish entry into the program without fixing the location of the camera.  Also at issue is the length of the pilot program, which is believed to be three years.

"From a statistical perspective having one site for the camera instead of two sites gives us more of an ability to make an educated decision (for adding cameras to other locations)," said Councilman Joseph Camarota.  "I'm not crazy about this plan but when you're talking about saving lives then it's important.  I would go along with giving this a try."

The ordinance will return for a first reading on Feb. 22.