L.A. pursues fines from red-light camera tickets after killing program
As the Los Angeles City Council voted this week to pay its defunct red-light camera program's operator to process outstanding citations, a statewide advocacy group released a scathing report of such traffic-ticket operations, saying agreements with vendors tend to focus "more on profits than safety."
"Too often, local governments are taken for a ride by red-light camera vendors overly focused on their bottom line instead of public safety," said Pedro Morillas, legislative director for the California Public Interest Research Group, which published the report Thursday.
The group argues that in many cities across the country where privatized red-light camera programs are enforced, simpler and cheaper potential solutions — such as lengthening the times of yellow lights — are ignored because cities and contractors are more focused on raising revenue by issuing more tickets.
The City Council voted to get rid of its red-light camera program in July. Many council members said they voted to end the program after it became clear the Los Angeles Superior Court, citing due process concerns, was not aggressively enforcing those tickets and because claims that the cameras increased safety were dubious.
Officials said the contractor was needed to process the fines because they held the database containing necessary photos and other evidence and that the contract should be terminated as soon as the contractor’s fee exceeds incoming revenue from unprocessed tickets.
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— Ari Bloomekatz
Photo: A red-light camera at La Brea Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. Credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times
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