Red light camera fines reduced today

September 1, 2007

As of today, motorists caught on camera running a red light in Balcones Heights won’t be hit with a stiff fine of $148.

A new state law meant to put safety over profits caps red-light enforcement camera tickets at $75 and forces cities to split profits with the state.

Senate Bill 1119 also says cities starting a red-light camera program have to do traffic engineering studies and consider whether design changes might work better to reduce red-light running. Also, new contracts can’t pay vendors a percentage of ticket collections.

The changes scared off Alamo Heights and Schertz, which had been considering the cameras.

Just FYI. I do wonder what they mean by design changes reducing red-light running. I suppose if we designed them to never change to red then we wouldn’t have anyone running them. I had to drive just about 10 miles in the city yesterday and at every single red light I had to pause a few seconds when it turned green so the cars running the red wouldn’t hit me. I really wish I was exaggerating.

Technorati Tags: red light cameras, traffic, San Antonio