Residents Of Santa Clarita Finding Blue Lights In Traffic Anything But Special

SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA.com)  —   Drivers were already seeing red over red light cameras in Santa Clarita.

Now officials have installed blue lights at seven intersections -- the blue light allows law enforcement a better way of deciding if a motorist has run a red.

CBS2's Jennifer Kastner reports about the new color schematic.

Green, yellow, red ... and now blue.

Santa Clarita is literally shining a new light on its problems with bad drivers, she reported.

New blue light enforcers have been installed around the city. Officials said they were installed at places that have high numbers of light runners.

How do they work?

When you're driving along and roll up to a light, it turns red and you stop. What you don't see, on the opposite side of that light, is a little blue light. The only people who can see the blue light are people traveling in the opposite direction -- like police officers.

An officer can now easily tell who's illegally blowing through lights and then pull them over.

While the city is thrilled with the new light and technology, Kastner spoke to several drivers who were not exactly on board.

"I don't know if it's really necessary," said one man.

"There's a controversy of whether it's just another way to make revenue or it's to keep people safe," said Laura Russell

"I'm sure that we're gonna see more invasive and even more colorful ways -- blue ,red, orange -- of raising funds," said Dan Durchslag.

One motorist thinks it will help keep people safe. "And if it's going to help keep us safe, then I support it," another man said.

The city formerly used red-light cameras to catch violators. They did away with them last year citing legal issues.

If you're wondering if the blue lights will be distracting, the city insists they are so small and placed at a certain angle that drivers shouldn't be distracted.