Beware of the red-light cameras

Nassau County released the first report highlighting the effectiveness of the Red Light Camera Program this month. According to the results, the cameras helped to enhance both pedestrian and vehicular safety.

By the end of 2010, 40 intersections in Nassau County were equipped with red-light cameras. The cameras were placed at intersections that were deemed the most common crash locations. East Meadow currently has two red-light camera intersections, Hempstead Turnpike and Merrick Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike and Newbridge Road, while Salisbury is home to three; Salisbury Park Drive and Old Country Road, Merrick Avenue and Old Country Road and Merrick Avenue and Stewart Avenue.

According to Nassau County Traffic Safety Educator Christopher Mistron, “Accidents are down, injuries are down, fatalities are down, and [the cameras] are doing what they are supposed to do.”

As the report states, accidents were down an average of 10.6 percent in East Meadow and 24 percent in Salisbury in 2010. Additionally, traffic fatalities at red-light camera intersections in Nassau County dropped more than 16 percent from 2009 to 2010 and injuries were reduced by 3 percent over the same period.

However, some East Meadow residents think they were unjustly ticketed. Maureen O’Leary Douglas said she recently received her first ticket in the mail after driving for nearly 30 years. “The light turned as I was more than halfway through,” she said. “I felt I was clearly through intersection when the camera went off.” Douglas said both she and her daughter received red-light camera tickets at Hempstead Turnpike and Newbridge Road.

While Douglas did not feel her ticket was warranted, she paid right away and now proceeds through red lights with extra caution.

Similarly, Sharon Oisher Stanley also thought the light was yellow, but received a ticket in the mail after allegedly running a red light at Old Country Road and Merrick Avenue on her way to work. She also received another ticket at a red-light camera in Baldwin and said she paid both fines right away.

Founder of BantheCams.org, Henry Bentley, is fighting his red-light ticket. “You have a right to meet your accuser,” he said. The Floridian has started the search to prove that the cameras are not providing drivers enough time to safely stop their cars. “The farther and farther I’ve gone, the more corruption I’ve found,” he said.

Mistron agreed that the cameras do occasionally flash before a light turns red, but says the flash validates the camera is working and a ticket will not be issued. “It’s not happening as often as some people think,” he added.

The 116 cameras at the 40 chosen intersections captured more than 625,000 events in 2010, which lead to more than 365,000 Notice of Liability tickets issued and generated $14.9 million in fines and fees. The cameras are in operation seven days per week, 24 hours a day.

“The current program experienced such positive results in reducing accidents that Nassau County has requested an expansion of the program by an additional 50 intersections,” the report states.