Skepticism on Nassau red-light camera plan

The Nassau County Legislature voted Monday to seek state approval to double the number of intersections with red-light cameras to 100, but some residents and advocacy groups questioned whether the program was aimed at public safety or raising revenue for the cash-strapped county.

A representative of AAA, the automobile advocacy group with 2.7 million members in New York State, told legislators that while it generally supports the program, it had developed some skepticism as it continued to get complaints from members.

"I would like to be able to tell our members . . . who have concerns about the fairness or think that this is about revenue and not safety, I would like to be able to tell them convincingly that this is about traffic safety and not revenue, and I have to say right now I can't do that," John Corlett, chairman of the AAA state legislative committee, said at the county legislative meeting in Mineola.

Baldwin resident Jack McCloy told lawmakers that the program was a "gotcha" that snagged motorists unfairly. "I think that is exactly what the intent is," he said, adding that he did not think the traffic lights remained amber long enough to give motorists a chance to stop before they turned red.

The program netted the county $10.3 million last year and could raise a total of $47 million this year as new cameras are phased in, a spokeswoman for Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said.

The county's coordinator of traffic safety, Christopher Mistron, said the amber lights last about 4 seconds, on average, but vary with the speed limit and the number of lanes. The amber would average 3 seconds on a roadway where the speed limit is 30 mph, he said.

The county uses standards set by a federal publication, the "Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices," he said. And the county gives drivers the benefit of the doubt by setting the time to the prevailing speed, not the actual speed limit.

"If the limit is 30 but we find the actual speed is more like 40 miles an hour, we'll set the amber signal for 40," Mistron said.

Most of the cameras have been installed at the 50 intersections in the first part of the program, and the county has a list of 125 intersections, ranked by number of accidents, from which it will pick the next 50, Mistron said.

The expansion relies on state approval, and while bills have been introduced in both houses of the state legislature, passage there was uncertain.