Red lights, camera, action

When Jack McCloy took his turn at the podium during the public comment session at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Nassau County Legislature, he only intended to make a suggestion for improving traffic safety at county intersections with newly installed red-light cameras.

Instead, the Baldwin resident inadvertently triggered an hour-long war of words between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the issue, which has made headlines after some county residents complained of being ticketed for making right turns on red — which, Republicans say, was not supposed to be part of the plan.

"My three minutes kind of got extended," McCloy joked.

He told legislators that because there is no minimum yellow-light period in the county, motorists often have to make split-second decisions on whether to go through or stop at an intersection when they see a yellow light. And at intersections monitored by cameras, McCloy added, motorists may be more inclined to slam on their brakes to avoid a ticket, which, McCloy said may result in rear-end collisions.

Incorporating a countdown clock — which displays the time between a yellow and red light — at such intersections would be a way to reduce that risk, he suggested. “I think the red-light camera issue is something that [the county] could be doing better than they are doing,” he said. “I believe that the Legislature is overlooking this issue, and it could open the door for future litigation against Nassau County."