The city of Hawthorne’s contract for red light cameras is up for renewal.
It's fueling the same debate that surfaced when others cities, including Los Angeles, abandoned red light camera programs.
In February, a motorist who got a ticket from a red light camera filed a class-action lawsuit on the grounds that Victorville, the desert city where he got the ticket, cannot hire a private company to do police work and that it violates due process laws.
The lawsuit is among other efforts by activists, some of whom complain the cameras are a cash cow for local government.
“It’s only for money. It’s only for money,” said Nina Meza, who was ticketed twice by red light cameras and signed a petition in the of summer 2011 opposing them. “It’s not for our safety.”
Opponents also cite data showing the cameras don't improve safety at busy intersections.
The reason Hawthorne began installing red light cameras in 2004, is that officials said they reduced crashes in other cities.
But that premise has been repeatedly questioned and last year L.A. joined a growing list of cities abandoning the cameras citing lack of evidence they improved traffic safety.
“They haven’t done anything in Hawthorne,” said Jay Beeber, a red light camera activist. “They didn’t have any accidents to begin with and they didn’t have any accidents to reduce to.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
The number of red light accidents and overall accidents haven't changed at these Hawthorne intersections since 2004.
But the city has issued thousands of costly citations that residents have complained about to Hawthorne City Councilman Alex Vargas.
“They say, ‘Why is it I have to pay?” Vargas said. “I can’t bring food to my table if I have to pay these tickets.”
Vargas questions whether Hawthorne should renew the contract for the red light cameras which is scheduled to come before the council Tuesday night.
Beeber says the evidence shows simply lengthening yellow-light times are more effective in reducing collisions but that cities want the revenue the cameras generate.
“The camera companies tell the cities you may not increase your yellow light time because they want to have the most number of violations, the most number of citations, the most amount of revenue generated,” he said.
It’s a contention Vargas says residents wouldn’t be happy to learn.
“I don’t think they’d be pleased with their elected officials doing that, being able to bring revenue on the backs of the residents,” he said.
Hawthorne is considering the issue as the city of San Bernardino announced it is installing three cameras, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
In the summer of 2011, the L.A. City Council voted to end its photo red-light program because of disputes over the cameras' safety benefits, the nearly $480 price of the tickets and concern that the contract violated the city's boycott of Arizona.
American Traffic Solutions, which managed the camera program, is based in Arizona.
Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: Twitter: @NBCLA // Facebook: NBCLA
