Drivers in Raleigh might not have to worry about getting caught running red lights if the city’s leadership maintains its decision to stop using red light cameras.
The City Council of Raleigh met last week and voted 4-3 to end the city’s contract with ACS Xerox, a private company that provides red light cameras, starting Sept. 30.
It is up to each town or city to decide whether or not to use red light cameras, said Steve Abbott, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Several members of Raleigh’s city council oppose ending the cameras, which they say have reduced accidents.
“(The City Manager’s office) has supported this contract with ACS Xerox from the beginning,” said Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen. “We think it does prevent the more serious accidents such as T-bone accidents, and makes Raleigh safer.”
Councilwoman Nancy McFarlane is also opposed to ending the contract.
She said the issue of red light cameras will most likely be brought up again for discussion when the council reconvenes Oct. 4.
“It’s about keeping people safe and alive and doing what we can to eliminate the deadliest type of accidents,” she said. “Red light cameras are very important.”
Allen and McFarlane also said the cameras brought in money for the community.
“Traffic violators caught on the cameras have to pay citations of $50 — this is what pays for the red light cameras,” Allen said. “Our program has essentially paid for itself.”
Any additional profit from the cameras goes to the school system, he said.
But opponents of red light cameras say the cameras do generate money — for the wrong people.
Chapel Hill ended its contract with ACS Xerox seven years ago.
“This third party entity reaped over 96 percent of the money collected from violators,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, who worked to the contract in 2004. “Only a tiny bit of this was going to the school system.”
As far as whether red light cameras prevent accidents, Kleinschmidt said that sometimes the opposite is true.
“There are studies that speak for themselves,” he said. “The caveat that resonated in Chapel Hill was that they don’t necessarily decrease the entire amount of accidents,” Kleinschmidt said.
“In fact, they have been shown to increase other kinds of accidents.”
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