LA City Council To Vote On Phasing Out Red Light Cameras

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A City Council Committee voted 5-0 Monday to pull the plug on the city's traffic cameras, which issue $480 tickets to drivers shot running red lights.

The city would stop handing out tickets beginning Sunday if the City Council passes the motion approved by the Budget and Finance Committee. However, the contract would not officially end until officials set an end date.

Councilman Paul Koretz said there are "20 good reasons" to scrap the program. At the top of his list is the fact that the Los Angeles County Superior Court has declined to enforce the tickets.

"They'll send you a note that you owe the money," Koretz said. "They'll send you a note saying you owe more money because you didn't pay the first time. But they'll never actually make you pay, and they won't put it on your credit."

Koretz said other cities that have increased the length of yellow lights or added one second when all lights at an intersection are red have "almost completely eliminated violations, which essentially means the safety you're trying to protect disappears."

Koretz also opposed the program because it costs the city more money to manage the cameras than revenue generated from traffic tickets.

"Basically it's costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for the privilege of issuing tickets that are almost $500," Koretz added.

Councilman Bernard Parks has argued there is a safety benefit to the cameras.

There have been no fatalities at any of the 32 intersections in the city where the cameras are installed.

However, Monday he voted in favor of phasing the program out after "it became clear that two important issues could not be resolved."

Parks had hoped to see the courts change their position on suspending car registrations for drivers who neglected to pay. He was also holding out hope that a state Senate bill would require county courts to enforce the tickets. That bill has been suspended.

"So now we have to seriously look at how do we phase it out at the minimal cost to the city," Parks said.

There was some dispute about whether the contract with American Traffic Solutions, which operates the city's red light cameras, obligates the company to pay for any final costs of turning the cameras off and removing them.

The City Attorney's Office told the committee there will be come residual costs to processing tickets that have been issued up until next Monday, and the city could be responsible for paying to remove the cameras and repairing the sidewalks where they were installed.

"That's not how the contract reads to me," Koretz said. "I think the cost of elimination is borne by the contractor."

The council's Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee is scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday and the full City Council is expected to hear it Wednesday.

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