GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Traffic citations from the city’s red light cameras for turning right without fully stopping have all been dismissed when contested in court, according to the city attorney.
Lawyer L.J. Arnold III reported to city council Thursday, Sept. 20, that he has appeared in Clay County Judge Richard Townsend’s court to represent the city in each of the legal challenges mounted by motorists cited for intersection violations caught by the cameras.
In every case where the citation was issued for an improper right turn, Arnold said, the judge has dismissed the charge.
"State law isn’t precise enough in defining what the cameras must depict to make a valid case against drivers in such cases," Arnold said. To date, the traffic cameras in Green Cove Springs are the only ones in Northeast Florida, although there are many in Central and Southeast Florida.
The city has cameras at three intersections along U.S. 17: at Ferris St. (State Route 16), Houston Street and Harbor Road. Controlled by computers, the cameras photograph vehicles that run the red lights at those intersections.
They snap images of the license plates and the vehicle owners receive citations in the mail calling for $158 fines. No cases of vehicles running red lights have been dismissed in court, Arnold said.
The camera fines are $98 less than for citations issued by police officers, they impose no points against an owner’s driver’s license and they entail no report to insurance companies.
The cameras are also programmed to take pictures of vehicles making right turns at red lights without first coming to a full stop. Most owners pay the fines – even the right-turn ones – by mail, according to Arnold. But those who have taken their camera-caught right turn citations to court have had them dismissed.
"It will take time for the legal system to iron out the details of these traffic camera cases," Arnold said.
Some motorists have complained that times of the amber-colored caution lights have been shortened at the camera-equipped intersections, leaving drivers insufficient time to come to a safe stop.
In a separate interview, Green Cove Springs Police Chief Robert Musco said state Department of Transportation regulations forbid altering the times for the amber lights.
"The D.O.T. specifies that, at 30 miles-per-hour intersections [such as the three on U.S. 17], the amber lights must be lit for 3.2 seconds."
Local merchants have complained that the traffic cameras might drive business away from the Clay County seat city.
The real issue, Musco has said, is "since when did it become OK to run red lights?"
Clouding the debate is chagrin on the part of some critics over the money the city is earning from the cameras. The city council Thursday night altered its 2010-’11 budget to account for an extra $436,204 to be produced by the cameras in the four months they will have been up and running by the budget’s end in October.
At the same time, the council adopted a 2011-’12 budget that includes no increase in taxes from the current fiscal plan.
The council also drafted a letter to be sent to automobile insurance companies asking them to reduce their rates for Green Cove Springs residents because, as they put it, with the red light cameras in operation, driving is now safer in the city.
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