Red light cameras 'see' speeders better

PORTLAND, Ore. - The city will spend up to $7.5 million in the next five years to replace red light and radar cameras and to extend an existing contract, but it won’t be adding new cameras to intersections. Additionally, police say the city doesn’t make money with them.

Half of the money will be spent on new radar cameras and the other half will be spent on the red-light type.

Eleven intersections around Portland outfitted with red light cameras will be upgraded from film to digital. So speeders will be caught breaking the law in clearer photographs; plus, the cameras will record video.

The makeover price will be $68,000 per camera, per year for the next five years.

Last year, 10,000 people got a $242 ticket, but after everyone was paid, including the company that runs them and gets $18 to $27 dollars per ticket, Portland police got less than $20,000. When officers’ overtime for each ticket fought in court was added in, the cameras cost the city money.

So, is spending more on new cameras worth it?

“It is for the simple reason that we’re not interested in revenue, we’re interested in traffic safety,” said Capt. Eric Hendricks with the Portland Police Traffic Division.

Hendricks said that half the people who reportedly run red lights and are caught on camera, get tickets.

“They’re not issued for a variety of reasons. The picture’s not clear because the technology is old, there is sun glare off the windshield, there’s not a front license plate on the car,” he said.

But at Southeast 96th and Foster, which has a new camera already, the pictures are so clear only 20 percent of alleged speeders got off.

There’s debate that these cameras cause more rear-end crashes, and a more cost-effective solution is just to extend the yellow light.

But according to the city of Portland, serious crashes are down 30 percent at those intersections and that is what matters.