AURORA | Local lawmakers gave the go ahead to keep photo red light cameras operating for at least another year despite criticism that surveillance cameras infringe on privacy.
Aurora City Council members voted 7 to 4 to extend the city’s contract with Xerox State and Local Solutions Inc. to operate the systems at 14 intersections. Council members Marsha Berzins, Bob Broom, Sally Mounier and Renie Peterson voted no.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said drivers running red lights pose a serious public safety threat to other motorists.
“As a person responsible for public safety in Aurora, it’s hard for me to say this behavior shouldn’t be sanctioned in some way,” he said.
Some residents and council members say the city’s extending its powers too far by videotaping drivers at intersections.
A Facebook page called “No Red Light Cameras in Aurora, Colorado” recently garnered more than 500 “likes.”
Aurora resident Edward Kipfinger said more people are becoming distrustful of government, especially in light of reports about the National Security Agency’s surveillance techniques, which some deem intrusive.
“What you’re dealing with here is a really big picture,” Kipfinger told council members before their vote. “Privacy, and trust and faith in government is really important.”
Some council members agreed.
“It’s my personal belief that this is ‘Big Brother,’” Peterson said. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have red light cameras at all.”
Councilwoman Mounier said that photo red light cameras invade a person’s privacy. “In my view, Aurora has crossed that (privacy) line and it’s a slippery slope,” she said. “God knows where that’s going to end.”
Councilwoman Barb Cleland disagreed, saying the cameras change driving behavior. “It’s a public safety issue,” she said.
Some residents have also criticized the city for using photo red light cameras as a revenue-generating tactic.
In 2012, the city collected $3.2 million from about 40,000 red light traffic violations. The city pays almost $1.9 million annually to keep the systems working and pays three police officers to review videotapes of infractions.
Revenues are used for law enforcement training, victim advocates, and city programs like DARE and the Aurora Gang Reduction Initiative.
Photo red light cameras are located at 14 intersections throughout the city including: Chambers Road and Alameda Parkway, Buckley Road and Iliff Avenue and Chambers Road and Mississippi Avenue.
To get ticketed for running a red light, Xerox has to first make sure the videotape shows the driver’s face, license plate, the red light, and that the light had turned red at least .2 seconds before the driver entered the intersection.
Then, the tape is reviewed by Aurora police, who “reject any potential violation that is questionable,” according to city documents.
“We only cite for, as I put it, ‘irrefutable evidence’ that someone has violated and went through the intersection in violation of a red light,” Oates said.
In 2012, 60,000 tickets were issued to drivers who ran red lights at the photo red light intersections. That was only 24 percent of the total number of possible violations captured by video at photo red light intersections. About 67 percent of people paid those tickets in 2012.
Drivers who don’t fully stop behind the white lines of the crosswalk aren’t cited for red light-infractions.
According to police reports, there have been about 34 percent fewer car accidents at intersections with photo red light cameras since 2010. There were 58 total accidents in 2010 when four photo red light cameras were operating, 40 accidents in 2011 when the city added 10 more systems, and 43 in 2012.
There was a 53 percent decrease in rear-end accidents from 46 in 2010 to 30 in 2011. In 2012, there were 34 rear-end accidents at the photo red light intersections.
The number of T-bone accidents also decreased, though not as drastically. There were 12 T-bone accidents in 2010, 10 in 2011 and 9 in 2012.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.
And 34 rear end collisions at red light camera’s is not a public safety issue??? People being afraid to get a ticket cause even larger public safety issues.. Come on folks… this is nothing short of a revenue generating machine utilized to offset the deficit in the public coffers… If you are that concerned about folks running red lights then post some officers… the red light cameras are nothing short of entrapment!
What’s the issue!?!? DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT and DON’T DRIVE THROUGH RED LIGHTS, are there are no issues whatsoever, at all. WHAT is the issue!?!? : /
You’re on camera essentially the moment you leave your place of residence. You are being taped EVERYWHERE, and have been since the late 90s! Are people that stupid??
DAVE….DAVE….!! the real issue here and danger is your inability to think no further than a 3 year old….it’s not whether the lights are a good thing…..it’s the gateway behavour of neverending government intrusions into our lives….see….your the type idiot that end up strapping bombs on their backs or voting for a hitler…you have no logical thought….your job is not to have kids…get sterilized…don’t run for any public office…be low key and above all….SHUT YOUR UNEDUCATED MOUTH…..OK DAVE..??
Love it! These are a not only a great idea to improve safety but also an endless source of entertainment when I see inattentive/bad drivers light up the cameras! Wonder how many people are looking down at their phones when they run the red light? Better to get a ticket and change behavior than to have one more pedestrian run over in a crosswalk. Entrapment? Give me a break. Nobody forces you to drive. If you can’t obey the traffic laws, someone has to pay. If that’s you, thanks for letting me watch you get lit up!
WELL “PABLO” when you become a american citizen with a valid drivers license then run your mouth……other than that put a burrito in it.
I love them too. There are far fewer accidents caused by people running red lights in Aurora now!
It has improved safety, and I haven’t seen people trying to race the yellow as much as before.
Maybe people are actually paying attention to their driving?
It’s really simple people….we are poor people….we get gouged by government on every level for everything….so those people in the counsel that decided to have it rip us off for more money are the people you need to vote out….PERIOD…..understand we need people that want to reduce things that rip us off for our money and this is one thing almost all people agree on….these idiots have no idea how many poor people out here that maybe did go thru a light alittle late but noone was affected pay that stupid machine generated ticket…..your government are the enemy…..all they do is overspend playing their criminal buy votes game and under the disquise in this case for public safety install a machine to rip you off for more money….wake up you cows…..!! YOU HAVE TO TAKE ACTION…!! vote them out……go to their homes and protest to 5am in the morning.
I’m a fan of the cameras, but I don’t like the “baggage” they bring, such as people RAAAAAAAAAAAAACING to avoid a red-light when you see the street-walking sign going “2, 1…”. In all reality, you don’t have a choice BUT TO DO THAT!!!
You can’t go 40mph down Alameda/Havana/or 45-55mph on some of these other streets and expect that when you see a yellow light, you SLAM ON those brakes, because otherwise, you get a nice flash, and a ticket in the mail! At that point, we should mandate all residents have anti-lock brakes! It’s really ridiculous!
Not to mention, AURORA HAS DECIDED, LIKE IDIOTS, to ban and wait on marijuana everything, when they could be raking in TENS OF MILLIONS per year, if not more. Aurora is CO’s 3rd, and soon to become 2nd largest city! The money could be endless. But instead, they ask for a Tax-Mill Levy and cry broke! PLEASE!
QUIT ASKING FOR MORE MONEY, and put some MONEY MAKING PLACES IN THE CITY…like marijuana dispensaries!! Aurora SURE THE HECK DOES HAVE MANY alcohol stores, and stores that sell cigarettes! What’s the issue??
This city has no common sense in many areas! It’s a political circus!!
“Richard Clark”, what type of medication are you taking? You are a scary nutcase, and your grammar is atrocious!!
When law enforcement becomes a form of revenue generation, cities lose objectivity. The fact that there are few unbiased studies to give us concrete data on the validity of the red light camera safety improvement leads me to believe that safety is not the driving force behind these cameras.
The system is ripe for fraud. 6 cities have been caught shortening their yellow light times to increase revenue. (Chattanooga TN, Dallas TX, Springfield MO, Nashville TN, Lubbock TX, and Union City CA. ) These are just the cities that were caught.
Nearly all the red light cameras are in the poorer northern parts of Aurora.
Many intersections cannot hold the traffic and result in trapped drivers. Often times there is little those drivers can do to avoid the situation. A prime example is the Abilene and Alameda intersection.
The Denver post also released an article showing that many politicians are exempt from the tickets due to a loophole.
I tend to question the reasons that city council members voted to renew the cameras.
“Nearly all the red light cameras are in the poorer northern parts of Aurora” Actually, you are quite wrong about that. I can tell you there are NO red light cameras on Colfax in north west aurora, which is arguably the poorest area of aurora. In fact..a vast amount of the “poor” community is north of Colfax. Do you see any photo cameras on Colfax? no. Here is the list:
SB Airport Blvd @ Alameda Pkwy
NB Abilene Street @ Alameda Avenue
EB Mississippi Ave@ Abilene Street
NB Chambers Rd @ Mississippi Ave
EB Iliff Ave @ Chambers Road
WB Iliff Ave @ Chambers Road
EB Smoky Hill @ Main Street
NB Buckley Road @ Alameda Pkwy
EB Mississippi Ave @ Chambers Rd
NB Abilene Street @ Mississippi Ave
EB Alameda Ave@ Peoria Street
NB Chambers Road @ Alameda Pkwy
NB Buckley Road @ Iliff Avenue
WB Mississippi Ave @ Peoria Street
These cameras are placed at these intersections based on number of accidents they have. The heart of these cameras are pretty much in the center of the city, where logically there is more traffic.
Faulty assumptions. Chambers and Iliff “northern”? Smoky Hill is northern? Anyway, the red light cameras
have done a great job, and have caught numerous idiot drivers, rich and poor alike, and have helped make
the streets a bit more safe. Now, if they would just outlaw cell phone useage in cars….
I have called *CSP several times about texters. But texters aren’t the only problem,
cell phone users while driving are not doing the good job they think they are.