Houston Community News >> 10 More New Red Light Cameras Installed in Houston

11/15/2006 -- By MIKE GLENN
(Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle)

Red-light camera map more drivers who run red lights can expect to receive a ticket in the mail, with 10 additional surveillance cameras now in operation.

As of Friday, officials said, the city's red-light cameras had recorded 4,363 incidents, with 3,681 eventually approved by the Houston Police Department for citations to be issued.

The figures are expected to jump dramatically as the system continues to come online. An unofficial tally indicated the latest batch of cameras recorded more than 3,000 red-light events in the first five days, officials said.

"Those have not been presented to us for review yet," said Sgt. Michael Muench, with HPD's traffic division.

The next group of cameras, bringing the total to 30, is expected to be in place within two months. The city plans to have 50 in operation by early next year.

"We anticipate this activity level to be dramatically increasing as we go through each phase," Muench said. "We are seeing a dramatic increase already."

Mayor Bill White pushed the idea of using cameras to enforce red-light laws, and the City Council approved it in 2004.

"We do have a significant problem that most of us are already aware of," Muench said. "If you do a lot of driving around the city, you see people running red lights around you all the time."

The cameras will be placed at intersections with high accident rates. A committee of representatives from the Houston-Galveston Area Council, Rice University and HPD's traffic division is choosing the sites.

It was only to be expected, Muench said, for many of the surveillance cameras to be located at intersections in southwest Houston.

"We have more people that live in the southwest part of town," he said. "Naturally, you're going to have more people driving" there.

A warning sign will tell drivers they are approaching an intersection where a surveillance camera is enforcing the red-light laws.

The camera will snap an image of the red light and rear of the vehicle before it crosses the traffic light or crosswalk. A second picture will be taken while the car is in the intersection.

The images will then be transmitted to American Traffic Solutions Inc., the company contracted to run the system. There, the image will be enhanced to show a clear picture of the license plate. That image will be sent to HPD.

Muench said two officers are reviewing the images on a full-time basis.

"We can bring in more officers as we need (and) as the workload demands," he said.

HPD has approved about 85 percent of the red-light violations for tickets to be issued. Most of the rejections happened because the driver made a right or left turn at the intersection, officials said.

Under the current city ordinance, turns are excluded for camera enforcement, even if they are illegal. Muench said there has been some discussion at City Council for the ordinance to be amended.

But, he said, "there really is no update. We still are in the same situation."

Violators have 45 days after the ticket has been issued to pay the $75 fine or request a hearing. Those who ignore the ticket will get a warning; after that, the matter will be passed to a collection agency.

Muench said the purpose of camera enforcement is safety. "We've got a serious problem out there, (and) these numbers are starting really to prove our point," he said. "We want these numbers to be dropping by increasing the awareness of the motoring public."

However, it is too early to call the system a success on that point, Muench said.

"We'll probably be at least six months into the project before we can get some reliable numbers," he said.

Chronicle reporter Anita Hassan contributed to this report.

(Contributed by Mike Glenn Houston Chronicle)