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Friday, May 16, 2008

POLICE

Cameras snare 2,605 drivers

  • By SCOTT DYER
  • Advocate staff writer
  • Published: May 10, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

Since mid-February, 2,605 citations have been issued to motorists caught on camera running red lights at five major East Baton Rouge intersections.

“We have one video that shows three cars in a row running one red light at Essen and I-10,” city-parish Chief Traffic Engineer Ingolf Partenheimer said.

“If you could see some of the stuff we’re seeing on these videos, you’d be mortified,” he added.

The first intersection where cameras were activated has the fewest citations. Records show that only 41 citations have been issued at the intersection of Coursey and South Sherwood Forest boulevards since photo enforcement started on Coursey’s eastbound lanes on Feb. 18.

Four other intersections were activated in mid-March, and have been generating far more citations.

The two cameras at Interstate 10 and College Drive generated 1,054 citations, while the three cameras at Essen and I-10 produced 1,193 citations.

The single camera at La. 19 and Blount Road resulted in 180 citations, and the lone camera at Airline Highway and Old Hammond Highway caught 137 violators.

Partenheimer said the city-parish last week held its first administrative-hearing session for those motorists seeking to contest their photo-enforced citations, and only three motorists showed up.

One of the drivers got off the hook by producing documentation to show she was rushing her husband to the hospital, Partenheimer said.

“I guess it shows that the system works,” he said.

For those who are caught, the citations cost $117 for the first offense and $167 for each subsequent offense within a year.

Contractor American Traffic Solutions Inc. will receive 35 percent of the fines that are paid on time and 45 percent of the delinquent fines, with the remainder going to the city-parish.

Partenheimer said the purpose of the program is not to generate revenue, but to make major intersections safer.


Comments (28)
jeffery
Saturday, May 10, 2008
12:49 AM

Congrats to ebr parish for making around $304,785 in a short time.
Ed
Saturday, May 10, 2008
6:05 AM

And congratulations to "jeffery" for either failing to read the story correctly or being unable to do the math. Let's get more of the cameras up - 2605 red light runners at four intersections! This is insane ... do these people want to kill other motorists or are they just trying to kill themselves? How about the Advocate runs a sidebar with the next article on the cameras that lists all of the accidents caused by red-light runners next time?
david allen
Saturday, May 10, 2008
6:18 AM

i think it is great, there are way to many red light runners, not just in baton rouge but in surounding parishes, we need a lot more cameras
mike day
Saturday, May 10, 2008
6:40 AM

just another case of outsourcing jobs, an giving up our rights to face and question the accuser. A corporation that finds you guilty and mails you a ticket
mike day
Saturday, May 10, 2008
7:31 AM

no judge ,no jury and no cop. its all been outsourced to a corporation. im good with that.
Cheryl
Saturday, May 10, 2008
7:43 AM

the cameras must not be working at Sherwood/Coursey. I am at that light at least twice a day and can watch at least 2-3 lights run every single time.
Chris
Saturday, May 10, 2008
7:47 AM

The last I checked running a red light was against the law. You do the crime, you pay the fine. No one is above the law.
CJ
Saturday, May 10, 2008
7:56 AM

I agree with jeffery. i'd like to know if this really does cutdown on accidents or if its just a convenient way of generating more revenue. IMO ebr parish must have got a "sale" on traffic lights. They put up more and more to "slow" traffic instead of keeping it flowing.
mike day
Saturday, May 10, 2008
8:07 AM

no cop no jury no judge no jail time. they hit your credit number. money hungry pols. too lazy to do their job to have the cops do their job. what ever happen to the jury of my peers
Kris
Saturday, May 10, 2008
8:45 AM

In Lafayette, we not only have red light cameras, we have the speed van which randomly parks on major highways, main thoroughfares, backroads, and subdivisions. The speed van along with other speed cameras catch people speeding and send the ticket in the same fashion. I was issued a speeding citation just keeping up with traffic. Yes I was several miles over the limit but if a real cop would have been gunning in the same spot I'm pretty sure I would have been over looked as I feel speed limits were made to cut down on reckless driving. I real cop has the ability to judge this where a camera only sees black and white.
Mike Jones
Saturday, May 10, 2008
8:51 AM

This is just another way our city repay's the citizen's, more tickets. How about putting camera's legally in the bad area's were drugs and crime really occur. As I ride around Baton Rouge all I see is Cops riding in Glen Oaks, and South Baton Rouge and Banks, Scotlandville and pulling people over for seat belts while over in the suburbs kids are outside smoking pot in there parents cars, out in the city limits areas kids are riding 4 wheelers with no protective gear and bow and arrows. Let's put those camera's to good use instead of making the states pockets fatter with our hard earned money.
Sharyn
Saturday, May 10, 2008
8:59 AM

Mike Day, when you or one of your loved ones is a victim of an accident as a result of a red light runner, and there is no cop around to issue a ticket for the assumed "minor offense" of running the light, should justice not be served?
C
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:11 AM

I have to say I agree with the camera's and the speed van. They make drivers more aware of their surroundings. Maybe we need more camera's and van's around. It'll free up police to deal with bigger crimes instead of petty crimes such as speeding and red light running. Hey people stop moaning and groaning. If you do the crime you must pay the fine.
Ethan
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:34 AM

Studies have been done, showing that the cameras are nothing but revenue generators, and in some instances cause more problems then they solve. http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/health/now/?p=404 I'm sure there are other studies that show otherwise as well. I've been familiar with RLCs for a few years, from visiting my sis in Albuquerque. There have been lawsuits against that city, because the RLCs haven't improved public safety, but have raked in a pile of cash, and the city has let city and state employees slide on the fines... (Which could never happen in THIS state, right?) Look, I'm not advocating breaking the law. I'm not even against the city raising money. I just don't want to the city making a cash grab, under THE GUISE of public safety. That's a slippery slope.
newsfan
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:43 AM

Something need to be done about all the red light runners but I have a story from New Orleans. A friend of mine got a ticket in the mail saying he had not paid his toll at the Crescent City Connection. They sent a picture as proof. The problem was the car in the picture was a white Dodge and my friends car was a dark gray Honda, my friend had traded his car in over a year ago to a Honda in Baton Rouge. The kicker was the car in the picture had a Texas plate on it with the same number my friend had on his Honda when he owned it but my friend's plate was a Louisiana plate. How did that happen???
newsfan
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:59 AM

Something need to be done about all the red light runners but I have a story from New Orleans. A friend of mine got a ticket in the mail saying he had not paid his toll at the Crescent City Connection. They sent a picture as proof. The problem was the car in the picture was a white Dodge and my friends car was a dark gray Honda, my friend had traded his car in over a year ago to a Honda in Baton Rouge. The kicker was the car in the picture had a Texas plate on it with the same number my friend had on his Honda when he owned it but my friend's plate was a Louisiana plate. How did that happen???
Kirk
Saturday, May 10, 2008
10:06 AM

Don't we already pay taxes to pay for police to enforce the laws to catch the red light runners? Now that we have automatic cameras to do the cops job - Do we need as many policew on the pay roll.
DRamsey
Saturday, May 10, 2008
10:48 AM

What is going to happen is more accidents are going to occur because of this cameras. Instead of watching the road people are going to looking around to see if a camera is on a pole and cuase an accident. And its going to slow traffic down more and more.
mike day
Saturday, May 10, 2008
11:15 AM

a camera is the fix all thats going to make everyone safe, yea right. it's a money grab by lazy pols. we are giving up a lot of rights for a little bit of safety. if one has bad credit they will not pay the fine. they can run all the red lights they want to without regard to the law.
Bill
Saturday, May 10, 2008
11:47 AM

Nobody sees the real problem here? If the traffic lights in Baton Rouge were synchronized & allowed more that 5 or 6 cars to go before the light turns red again, maybe there wouldn't be so many red light runners in the first place.
Charles
Saturday, May 10, 2008
11:56 AM

This isn't about safety. It is about revenue.
Elizabeth
Saturday, May 10, 2008
12:35 PM

If it's only about revenue, consider this simple equation...No red light runners + No tickets issued = No revenue generated.
Lene
Saturday, May 10, 2008
1:09 PM

I am scared to death to get onto I-12, where the speed limit is posted at 60mph. Which many drivers do not obey. I go 60mph and they pass me right up, i am scared they are going to run over me! There needs to be more troopers enforcing this!
Cajun Jedi
Saturday, May 10, 2008
3:46 PM

The Founding Fathers would be shaking their heads at this abuse of power by local government. And those who think this is about safety, you are dead wrong, this is about confiscation of income.
Debbie
Saturday, May 10, 2008
6:37 PM

How many of the people complaining about getting caught doing something illegal feel the same way about bank robbery (film evidence) and armed assault (video cameras in parking lots, convenient stores)? The slippery slope is buying into the cowboy mentality that states, you are allowed to get away with anything as long as you are not caught. Personal responsibility and society make you responsible to not harm others. With your argument, if an officer does not see you you can get away with murder. I am from a family of state troopers and any help to catch up with those that would harm innocent people is always welcomed.
David Steinle
Sunday, May 11, 2008
1:19 AM

Michael D. Day, get a life. The red light cameras are designed to keep the major intersections of a city with horrible traffic SAFE. Do you understand that? Or are you that ignorant that you want to complain? Last I checked, you should love the red light cameras, because you are a left-wing lover of more government regulation. You must have been caught by a red light camera or else you wouldn't be running your piehole.
DwayneLafayette
Sunday, May 11, 2008
6:45 AM

Mike, since when does a ticket from a cop enable you to a jury of peers? You can face your accusers by going to a hearing and pleading you case. The only difference with the camera is that the proof is on video clearly showing your vehicle running a red light. Now please pay your citation because you were caught red handed.
s
Sunday, May 11, 2008
2:29 PM

great just one more things baton rouge cops can smile about...and another reason