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Hernando Today

Council Gives Green Light To Traffic Camera Contract

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: May 20, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - An Arizona-based firm that provides eyes in the sky over busy intersections in cities throughout the country will do the same in Brooksville.

The Brooksville City Council on Monday approved by a 4 to 1 vote a contract with American Traffic Solutions, or ATS, to install traffic cameras at intersections that see the most accidents and red-light runners.

The first six months of the contract will be a test period for the program and a grace period for motorists in which no citations are issued "until the kinks are out," City Attorney Debbie Hogan told the council.

That's part of the company's standard agreement, Hogan said.

But ATS also agreed to offer an additional six-month grace period in which the city can end the contract without cause, she said.

"If what we received is not what they marketed to us, you have the authority to say we don't want it," Hogan said.

ATS will conduct a study of the busiest of the city's 14 signaled intersections to assess which of them need cameras.

Council member Richard Lewis wanted assurances that ATS would have no control to change the yellow light intervals.

None of the company's technology interfaces with traffic signals, City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha said.

Council member Joe Bernardini has been skeptical of the need for the cameras and initially voted against them.

Then, during the second reading of the resolution last month, he reluctantly changed his mind and voted in favor of the program along with the rest of the council.

He changed his mind again Monday and cast the dissenting vote.

"This isn't a solution to a problem we had, this is a solution to a problem we may or may not have to be determined by a trial period," Bernardini said. "I don't think the traffic statistics really showed us we have a problem at these intersections."

The council asked Police Chief George Turner to report back in five months on how the cameras are working.

Installation of the cameras comes at no cost to the city. Instead, ATS will take $40 from every $125 ticket issued to an offender, leaving $85 for the city.

The cameras snap two still photos and video of a car moving through an intersection, producing digital images sharp enough to read license plates.

A police officer would then review the images and determine whether the motorist ran the light.

The fines would be civil penalties and would not cause points to be added to a motorist's license.

The program came at the recommendation of Turner, who last month provided nearly 200 pages on the subject that included data on traffic violations and crashes at city intersections as well as reports and newspaper clips on the controversial cameras.

The Brooksville Police Department investigated 573 crashes between January 2007 and March 2008, Turner reported. Of those, 30 percent "were at and or attributed to red light controlled intersections."

The statistics showed that Cortez Boulevard and South Broad Street, Cortez and Buck Hope Road and South Broad Street and Wiscon Road are among the five intersections that have seen the most accidents.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandtoday.com.

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