RESOURCES |
| HOUSTON'S DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS Some intersections Houston police have identified as possible locations for automated red-light enforcement, because they are frequent accident sites: • San Felipe at West Loop South Service Road • Houston Avenue at Memorial Drive • North Sam Houston Parkway East at North Freeway • Memorial Drive at Silber • Main Street at Post Oak Road South • Westheimer at Dairy Ashford • Tomball Parkway at Greens Road West • Gessner at Katy Freeway • FM 1960 at Tomball Parkway • Westpark at Southwest Freeway |
Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said Friday that the city has concluded it can issue civil citations, even though the Texas Legislature overwhelmingly voted in 2003 to deny cities the power to issue criminal citations based on camera enforcement.
Michel's ruling paves the way for the City Council to vote on whether to install cameras at intersections with high accident rates. The council is expected to vote on the matter Dec. 15, and the cameras could be in place two months after that, officials said.
"The Houston Police Department last year recorded more than 5,000 accidents caused by motorists running red lights," said Mayor Bill White, who wants to install the cameras. "People overwhelmingly in our community complain about the lack of enforcement at red lights. It's a better idea to use technology rather than taking police officers out of patrols to sit at intersections."
But the idea has drawn fire from privacy advocates, and may face further opposition in the Legislature.
State Rep. Gary Elkins of Houston, who led opposition to allowing the use of cameras at intersections during the 2003 session, said there would be "overwhelming support" in the upcoming 2005 session to pass a law prohibiting Texas cities from using cameras for traffic-light enforcement.
If Houston installs the cameras, it will join more than 100 other cities in 20 states that use them, including the three cities that are larger than Houston — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Many cities have reported significant declines in the number of red light violations after the cameras were installed, accompanied by increases in ticket revenue.
Like most other cities, Houston would hire a private vendor through competitive bidding to install and maintain the cameras, in exchange for a percentage of ticket revenue.
Randall Kallinen, president of the Houston chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, criticized the growing use of such cameras as an infringement on privacy rights.
"We've really become a surveillance society," Kallinen said. "History has shown that any time that surveillance has become a way of life, it becomes abused and used for purposes not intended."
White said there is no right to privacy on a public roadway, and pointed out that cameras are used to monitor traffic and to catch motorists who fail to pay at toll booths.
"I respect people's privacy, but nobody has a right to run a red light," White said.
But Elkins said he is skeptical of studies showing the cameras increase safety, saying they are simply being used as "cash cows."
"My advice to the city is to not make an investment in the cameras, because it may end up being a worthless investment," he said.
Elkins said the Legislature repeatedly has refused to authorize cities to install cameras to issue criminal citations to red light violators. The House voted 103-34 in 2003 against such a measure.
But in a move that was not noticed by many legislators, state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, inserted an amendment in the 2003 transportation bill giving cities the right to regulate transportation matters civilly or criminally. Harper-Brown could not be reached for comment Friday.
In September 2003, the Dallas suburb of Garland became the first municipality in Texas to install cameras at traffic lights, citing violators for the civil violation of being inside an intersection during a red light rather than the state-regulated criminal violation of running a red light.
Houston plans to follow the same strategy, Michel said.
Garland City Attorney Charlie Hinton said the cameras installed at four intersections have decreased the running of red lights by 21 percent and generated $700,000 in ticket revenue. Several communities near Garland also are considering installing cameras.
Hinton said he expected legal challenges to Garland's use of the cameras, but none have materialized.
"It's been a very successful program," he said.
Houston's current standard criminal fine for running a red light is $215, and the proposed civil fine would be $75. The civil violations would be assessed against the owner of the vehicle, regardless of who drove the car through the red light.
Richard Raub, a senior researcher at Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety, said cameras are effective in increasing safety only if all other safety issues have been addressed at intersections, and added that he is concerned that private firms are typically paid a percentage of the revenues.
He said authorities in San Diego discovered that cameras were improperly timed to issue tickets on yellow lights, but those citations were dismissed. He said he fears that private companies may have a motivation to alter the timing to generate more revenue.