Red Light Cameras Expected to Expand Beyond Philadelphia

Drivers in 20 Pennsylvania cities will have to think twice before trying to beat that yellow light, if legislation passed by the state Senate last week becomes law.

If a driver is a split-second late getting through the intersection, he could face a $100 fine. Cameras at the light would snap a picture of the license plate and the ticket would be sent to the registered owner of the offending vehicle. 

Red light cameras are set to proliferate statewide next year after the state Senate approved a measure Tuesday to allow most of the state’s large and mid-sized cities to implement the automated enforcement systems (click here for vote tally). Philadelphia has been the only city to use the cameras and splitting the revenue 50-50 with the state. The city began using the cameras in 2002.

“My legislation will make Pennsylvania roads safer, and it will save lives,” said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester, the bill's lead sponsor. 

The law that allows red light cameras in Philadelphia is set to expire at the end of this year. In addition to extending the legality of those cameras until 2017, Pileggi’s bill will allow second tier cities--such as Pittsburgh and Scranton--as well as third tier cities with a full-time police force and a population of more than 18,000 to install the cameras. 

The cities could choose whether to use the cameras, but all revenue would be given to the state Department of Transportation, or PennDOT. 

PennDOT will use half of the revenue for projects in the local areas where fines are collected and the other half for statewide projects. Using the same model, Philadelphia’s 19 cameras have provided more than $8 million for statewide projects since 2002. 

Opponents of red light cameras say they are little more than a money-making ploy by cash-strapped city governments. The number of cities using red light cameras has climbed from 150 to more than 500 in the past four years, according to the National Motorists Association, which protects the rights of drivers. 

Constitutional questions also surround the use of red light cameras, said Gary Billers, executive director of the National Motorists Association. 

Because the cameras photograph a vehicle’s license plate and send a ticket to the registered owner--but not the driver at the time of the alleged offense--cameras violate due process. 

“It puts the owner of the car in the position of having to prove their innocence. Essentially, the camera says they are guilty until proven innocent,” Billers said.

If a police officer pulls over a driver for running a red light, he can verify the driver's identity, rather than relying on the license plate number, he added. 

Legislative leaders have maintained that the cameras are about safety, not revenue. 

Pileggi pointed to a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research nonprofit funded by auto insurance companies, which indicated that red light cameras have saved more than 100 lives in the past 10 years. The report calculates that 676 people were killed in 2009 because drivers ran red lights. 

But competing studies suggest that red light cameras also can cause vehicle crashes. 

A study conducted in Virginia before and after the state implemented red light cameras in 2007 found that intersections with cameras saw a 27 percent increase in rear-end collision, likely because drivers were slamming on their brakes to avoid a ticket when they otherwise might have gone through the light. 

According to AAA, which represents the interests of drivers, law enforcement officers are the most effective way of reducing red light violations, but the organization supports the use of cameras, provided they are not used to generate revenue. 

The state Senate did not estimate the potential revenue from the expansion of the cameras, and people on both sides of the issue said determining the amount would be difficult, since each city would be allowed to opt in to the camera program. 

Dennis Buterbaugh, spokesman for PennDOT, said the department had not fully analyzed the bill to determine potential revenue, but would support the cameras for dangerous intersections. 

"The municipalities would decide where to put them," Buterbaugh said. "If it's an intersection where data would show these (have seen) a lot of red light accidents, then we would certainly support the use of cameras." 

Buterbaugh said the revenue would be used for safety improvements statewide, including installing crosswalks and making school zones safer, as has been done with the pilot program in Philadelphia. 

Stephanie Kalina-Metzger, a resident of Cumberland County, said she viewed the cameras as a "nanny state intrusion." 

"It's really nothing more than a 'gotcha' game," she wrote to PA Independent. "How many drivers will get caught in that trap?" 

House leaders are receptive to moving the red light camera bill this fall. 

State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Blair, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he would hold a hearing on the red light camera issue, but the date was not yet determined.

He said he agreed with the principle behind the state Senate plan of expanding the cameras' use to certain cities without opening it up to the entire state at once. 

"I think you have to phase these things in slowly," Geist said. "We have to make sure that it is only about traffic safety and not the revenue."

In August, state Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch said he supported the cameras, which were one of the recommendations made by Gov. Tom Corbett's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission this summer.