Red-light cameras: Is it about money or safety?

When a red-light camera citation arrived in the mail this summer, Robert Ford toyed with appealing it.

In contrast to some motorists, the 12-year Wilmington resident had not blown through a red signal, risking a severe collision. Rather, his $110 citation arrived after he braked at the corner of Concord Avenue, checked for oncoming traffic, and turned right onto Broom Street.

"According to their rules, it was not a full stop but a 'rolling' stop," said Ford, who lives in the Happy Valley neighborhood.

"I wasn't being unsafe. I went back to that junction the other day, and the stop line is probably 30 feet back from where you actually turn. You can't see the traffic coming from that line."

Ford abandoned his appeal after the city declined to renew his residential parking sticker until he paid the ticket.

In Wilmington, stricter enforcement of right turns on red drove a spike in tickets and revenue for the red-light camera program last year, according to a News Journal review of city data.

Citations were up 44 percent overall with the city issuing 41,926 red-light tickets worth $4.6 million during the year ending June 30. The previous year, citations had fallen off 30 percent.

The city has not added cameras, so the trend line surprised engineers and researchers who study automated traffic enforcement, which is supposed to reduce the incidence of red-light running by changing driver behavior.

"What's supposed to happen is you put up the signage and, if you consistently enforce, the number of violations should go down over time," said Matthew S. Maisel, a New Jersey attorney who has studied legal issues surrounding red-light camera systems.

"If it's not, it's not working the way it should."

The Delaware Department of Transportation runs a separate photo-enforcement program outside of Wilmington, and has chosen not to target right turns on red.

Traffic engineers for DelDOT say most of the state's right-turn crashes are low-impact, rear-end accidents attributed to late yielding or stopping – not blatant running of a red signal.

Studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that right-on-red crashes represent a very small proportion of overall crashes (0.05 percent in one analysis), and a fraction of a percent of injury and fatal crashes (0.06).

DelDOT has seen an average 29 percent drop in red-light-running crashes at the intersections in its statewide program, and an average 47 percent drop in the most severe type of crashes where the impact occurs at an angle.

Wilmington does not track crashes, so it has not determined if safety improved since the monitoring began at 30 intersections.

Video enforcement

The city's red-light citations had been declining until two years ago, following a switch from still to video images.

The video technology allows those who review the footage before issuing tickets to better detect drivers illegally turning right on red by not coming to a complete stop, as required by law.

Last year's jump in citations was largely the result of right-on-red citations, which soared by 95 percent – from 8,654 in fiscal 2013 to more than 16,900.

Right-on-red violations increased by 339 percent at Walnut and A streets, and more than tripled at two other locations: Concord Avenue at Broom Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue at Lincoln Street. Right-on-reds doubled at seven other junctions, also.

Wilmington officials say enforcement hasn't changed, but independent traffic engineers contacted by The News Journal could discern no other explanation for the surge in citations.

Asked to explain the spike, the office of Mayor Dennis Williams pointed to who performs the review of video footage before citations are issued.

Last November, the city shifted that responsibility from a revolving team of police officers to a single employee of the Finance Department who is a retired police officer.

"There is very likely to be more consistency in enforcement, and all motorists will be provided with a 0.1 second grace period," said Alexandra Coppadge, spokeswoman for the mayor.

The review process is supposed to ensure an actual traffic violation occurred before a motorist is cited. Violations are dismissed if the vehicle is part of a funeral procession or was making way for an emergency vehicle.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says the reviews should be performed by sworn law-enforcement officers in order to maintain public trust.

"When you have uniformed officers, they are more willing to err on the side of the motorist," said Jim Lardear of AAA Mid-Atlantic. "When you have someone reporting to finance, they're looking at it in a different way."

Changing standard

A traffic violation generally occurs when the front of a vehicle crosses the stop line marked on the pavement after a signal turns red, and then continues into the intersection while the light is red.

Under Delaware law, where right turns on red are permitted, motorists have the right to proceed and turn after stopping.

In the past, Wilmington had granted motorists some leeway where roadways intersect at skewed angles, presenting sight-distance problems. An example is Concord Avenue and Broom Street.

Motorists turning right from southbound Concord face a stop line set relatively far back from the edge of Broom Street. To check for oncoming traffic, drivers have to pull up to the corner to see around a retaining wall on the northwest corner.

There are several signs posted along the approach: "Stop here on red," with an arrow pointing to the stop line; a camera symbol (to indicate photo enforcement); "Right turn on [red ball] after stop"; and "Turning traffic must yield to pedestrians."

"It's terribly confusing to everybody. You look at it and say, 'Why the hell would I stop here [at the line]? It serves no purpose," said Anthony Arcaro, a lawyer in Trolley Square who handles traffic cases.

"When I actually get to the intersection, do I have to stop again? As a practical matter, that is where you do have to stop, because you need to see what's coming."

The previous mayoral administration recognized the unique setup at the intersection, telling citizens that they would not be ticketed as long as came to a full stop before turning.

"As long as you stop either at the 'stop bar' or drive past the stop bar and stop closer to the intersection, you are OK," John Rago, policy director for then-Mayor James Baker, wrote in a memo to the Triangle Neighborhood Association in late December 2010.

"You will not receive a ticket, as long as you stop before turning."

That policy has changed. Those who fail to stop at the line now risk a citation.

"Motorists should stop at the stop bar, or where the sign says 'Stop here on red,' and then proceed to the corner and make the turn with caution," Coppadge said.

The yellow signal at Wilmington intersections is set to 4 seconds, giving motorists observing the speed limit sufficient time to stop, she said.

Jill Teixeira of Trolley Square feels the city is unfairly punishing people who are driving safely and being cautious by pulling to the corner for a clear line of sight.

"It's nonsensical where that white line is. It traps you," said Teixeira, who appealed her ticket because she stopped at the corner before turning right.

"I try not to go there now for that reason, especially after hearing people say that they did stop at the white line, and were still getting tickets."

Jason Moore, who lives nearby, says he has always stopped at the corner, and not at the line.

"Of the 1,001 times I have gone through the intersection, I got nailed once," said Moore, who reviewed the video of his alleged violation online and says it shows him slow to a stop.

Moore wrote a letter to accompany his appeal, then heard nothing for two and a half months.

"I thought I was in the clear until last week, when I received a summons for mid-November," he said by email.

Two years ago, Arlene Gormley Hazeltine of the Triangle community received a dozen tickets in the mail from turning right on red at Concord and Broom. She paid more than $1,200 in fines, and swore she'd never pay another. Now, she stops at the line, and waits.

"I wait for the green, no matter how many people are honking," she said. "There is no reason to stop that far behind the intersection except [for the city] to make money. This city will nickel and dime you to death."

Tom Baker, president of the Triangle Neighborhood Association, said the junction has been a source of complaints for years. But all that motorists need to do is remember to stop at the line, and again at the corner.

"There's a sign right there," he said. "So you have to stop twice. So what?"

DelDOT, which maintains the pavement markings along Concord Avenue, says it will take another look at the location of the southbound stop line.

"We will review this situation further, including coordination with Wilmington Public Works staff, and decide if moving the stop line forward for the southbound right-turn movement is something we want to pursue," DelDOT Chief Traffic Engineer Mark Luszcz said Friday.

Few citations appealed

Some safety advocates question whether the cameras actually deter the most dangerous, inattentive drivers who blow through an intersection after the video has stopped recording.

"The most severe crashes are not caused by split-second red-light running," said Lardear of AAA.

More than half of the violations issued by Wilmington during the last two years occurred within a second of the signal turning red. And 1 in 5 violations occurred 3/10ths of a second or fewer into the red phase, according to city data.

Motorists who receive a ticket can visit www.public.cite-web.com, type in a citation number and code, and view a 10-second video of their alleged violation. Late fees start to accumulate after 21 days.

Wilmington doesn't send a collection agency after those who fail to pay; however, vehicles with more than $200 in unpaid parking and red-light tickets risk having a wheel clamped with a parking boot. The city also sends notice to the Division of Motor Vehicles to suspend vehicle registration renewals for delinquent accounts.

Resident Mike Campbell appealed his right-on-red citation for an alleged violation near his home at Pennsylvania and Woodlawn avenues 18 months ago.

In court on July 15, he and the magistrate judge disagreed about whether the video showed him coming to a full stop before turning.

On the video, "they said they're looking for all four wheels to stop turning, and we look for a 'rock back' of the vehicle," Campbell recalled. "I said, there's no way from this angle, at this distance, you can tell whether the vehicle rocked back. If your vehicle is going 1 mile an hour, it's not going to rock back."

The judge also told him he needed to be stopped for 3 to 5 seconds, according to Campbell. "I said, nowhere in Delaware code, city code, or any code does it say you need to stop for 3 to 5 seconds before proceeding forward," Campbell said.

He lost his case, as did the other 15 or so others who had showed up to challenge their citations that day, Campbell said.

They are among the few who take time out to appeal – only 1,130 out of 41,900 did so last year. Because red-light violations carry a civil, rather than a criminal penalty, in court the prosecution does not need to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Five years ago, Teixeira of Trolley Square tried to contest a right-on-red citation issued at Broom and Concord in June 2008. The next month, she received notice that her ticket had been suspended until her hearing.

A year and a half later, she called the city out of concern, and was told she would eventually get a court date. The next communication she received wasn't until February 2014, when a letter arrived stating that Teixeira had failed to respond to previous notices.

"Therefore, they were re-issuing the ticket at the original amount of $85," Teixeira said. "I just paid it because I got disgusted with the whole thing."

While the city rakes in substantial revenue from red-light cameras, Mark Martell of Bear says Wilmington businesses have lost revenue because of them.

A couple years ago, Martell asked city officials to waive his red-on-red tickets after receiving two within a week for rolling rights at Walnut and A streets. He explained that he had been heading to volunteer at the Delaware Humane Association. The city refused, he said.

Martell decided to protest with his wallet, and has since boycotted Wilmington restaurants, Blue Rocks games and cultural venues.

"It's a negative incentive to go into the city," Martell said. "This is a revenue grab, and no longer about law and traffic enforcement. It's negative marketing, and it's cumulative impact will affect the city's traffic. They're chasing people away."

Contact Melissa Nann Burke at (302) 324-2329,mburke@delawareonline.comor on Twitter@nannburke.

PAYING, APPEALING TICKETS

Wilmington

Vehicle owners are notified by mail of red-light citations and may visit cite-web.com to view a 10-second video of their violation. Still photos and video are displayed in court if the vehicle owner appeals the citation (appeals are not free and include processing fees). The base fine is $110, not including fees.

Outside Wilmington

Vehicle owners receive notice by mail of red-light citations and may visit www.violationinfo.com to view video of the violation and pay by credit card (plus a $4 convenience fee). Late fees accrue after 30 days. For problems viewing violation footage or paying a citation, call (888) 335-9273 (for citation numbers that are 10 digits long) or (866) 790-4111 (for citation numbers that are 13 digits long). The total fine is $112.50.

Holds on vehicle registrations

No points are assessed to individual driving records for red-light offenses. However, delinquent red-light tickets (those more than 120 days overdue) prevent motorists from renewing their Delaware vehicle registration at the Division of Motor Vehicles. Officials advise owners to ensure all citations for red-light offenses are paid before attempting to register a cited vehicle.

TOP WILMINGTON INTERSECTIONS

In Wilmington, nearly half of the $4.6 million in red-light camera citations were issued at five high-volume intersections:

1. Concord Avenue and Broom Street ($717,640 worth of citations)

2. Walnut and Second streets ($454,960)

3. Delaware Avenue and Van Buren Street ($404,580)

4. Lancaster Avenue and Jackson Street ($365,750)

5. Concord Avenue and Market Street ($301,290)

Source: City of Wilmington data for the year ending July 31

TOP STATEWIDE INTERSECTIONS

1. Del. 896/South College Avenue and Del. 4/Christiana Parkway

2. Del. 2/Kirkwood Highway and Del. 7/Limestone Road

3. Elkton Road and Del. 4/Christiana Parkway

4. Del. 2/Kirkwood Highway and Harmony Road

5. Del. 2/Kirkwood Highway and Red Mill Road

Source: DelDOT data for 2013