No go for cameras in Newport

Deepa Bharath

This coastal city may not be ready for red-light cameras just yet,

police officials said on Tuesday.

City Councilman Don Webb asked city officials at the last council

meeting to look into the possibility of installing cameras to deter

red-light runners at some of the busy intersections near John Wayne

Airport.

The Police Department is “closely monitoring” other cities that

use red-light cameras, such as neighboring Costa Mesa, but is not

actively pursuing the idea, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman

said.

What the city has now are unobtrusive red-light indicator boxes at

about 25 intersections. These boxes are basically small units perched

behind the traffic light that reflect the red light as soon as the

signal changes. That way, the officer who is positioned behind a

traffic light gets ahead of the violator and stops him or her.

That system has worked well for the city so far and has succeeded

in bringing down the number of red light violations, Shulman said.

“We’ve been able to write a lot of tickets with these boxes and

our very efficient team of motorcycle officers,” he said.

Although cameras can catch more violators, it is missing the human

component, Shulman said.

“The reason officers stop people they believe to be violators is

so they can ask them why they did what they did or if they even knew

what had happened,” he said.

The camera doesn’t show all of the circumstances that lead to the

violation, Shulman said.

“For example, someone may have run the red light to avoid getting

rear-ended,” he said. “Often, a single snapshot doesn’t tell the

whole story.”

Webb said he believes motorists do seem to notice the red light

cameras.

“Our police officers do an excellent job,” the councilman said.

“But they can’t be there 24 hours a day.”

The cameras may not be an effective enforcement tool throughout

the city, Webb said.

“But near the airport, where we have a lot of repetitious traffic,

it could be effective,” he said.