Caution on red-light cameras: Cut fees but make them a deterrent

As the year draws to a close, so do Long Island’s long-familiar red-light camera practices.

In Suffolk County, the program allowing this method of issuing the tickets, which New York State first authorized in 2009, expired outright Dec. 1.

And in Nassau County, where the program doesn’t expire until 2029, an appellate court ruling has effectively ordered the total penalty for each violation cut from $150 to $50.

Motorists who condemned the camera program as purely a "money grab" have a perfect right to express satisfaction. But the public is also deeply concerned about how to stop road carnage. Steps to deter vehicle collisions at our intersections are as warranted as ever. Choices need to be made in both counties to address that need.

Going forward, Nassau County’s challenge is to make its existing red-light program both legal and effective. On Nov. 27, a state appellate division panel ruled that it is illegal for a county to charge more than $50 (or $75 with a late fee) for a red-light camera violation. Nassau has been tacking on an extra $100 — twice the authorized fine — in "driver responsibility" and "public safety" fees for a total cost of $150 per ticket.

These "extras" always sounded like they were designed to jack up the fine to levels you might pay if a police officer, not a camera, caught you running a red light. It has long been apparent that their imposition flouted the law, and now, through litigation, the courts have finally caught up. Suffolk may have to refund motorists about $160 million and Nassau more than $300 million. 

STRONGER DETERRENT NEEDED

Nassau’s elected officials need to determine whether $50 for a camera ticket is too low a charge to discourage motorists from risking a collision by ignoring a red light.

If county elected officials wish to make the fine a stronger deterrent, they must ask the legislature in Albany to pass a law raising it, not try some other tricky manipulation of surcharges. Such an increase would take unusual political determination to get done, but might be necessary to get some order back on the roads.

State lawmakers this year allowed New York City to expand the number of red-light camera locations and the Hudson Valley to introduce them for the first time and hail their use as improving safety.

In Suffolk, Legis. Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon), the legislative minority leader, told Newsday that the county needs to deploy other safety strategies to reduce traffic calamities. "I understand folks' complaints about [the red-light camera program] being a money grab," Richberg said. "My retort would be, what other impediments can we put in to curb aggressive driving? ... What do we replace it with?"

The question is sensible. First, Suffolk lawmakers should assess what the red-light camera program’s failures and successes may have been — and see if it can be resumed in a more narrowly targeted way. This would take some detailed study which lawmakers might get with proper oversight hearings.

An active decision on how to proceed is especially necessary after the county's camera program was passively allowed to expire without such an assessment. Data from the cameras’ years in service is ready to be decisively parsed.

YELLOW LIGHT EXTENSION

After Suffolk’s program began, the number of collisions causing injuries reportedly declined. But rear-end accidents at the camera-equipped intersections increased. Vehicles would stop quickly before the red, for fear of a violation, with cars behind them expecting to go through.

There may be ways to prevent this even with the cameras in place. To use the devices more smoothly, authorities might consider, as some have suggested, extending the time it takes for traffic lights to stay yellow before turning red. Longer intervals are worth exploring.

Placement of the cameras should make sense to dispel suspicions that some communities are being targeted to generate more fine money. The standard should be placing cameras where they are likeliest to benefit public safety. Years of data should be sufficient to determine this.

Counties, of course, will need to balance their budgets. Any revenue loss means a need to either cut expenses or find alternative ways to hike operating income. So far, neither county has had to decide for sure how to adjust to reduced camera revenue. It could depend on how far into the past reimbursements will be required for fees already paid. Nassau County last week stopped charging the extra $100-per-ticket fee.

As for policing intersections, Suffolk officials who have played on the program’s flaws also suggest some of the new police officers hired in the current budget would be deployed for traffic patrols. Perhaps the right patrol efforts can bridge gaps in camera coverage.

For Long Island, deciding the way forward on road safety requires a comprehensive analysis of where collisions and dangerous driving occur and strategizing over how to handle it. Celebrating fewer fines is nice, but saving lives — the stated purpose of having installed red-light cameras — is as important to address as ever.