The Manteca Police Department Tuesday launched a 30-day social media blitz to inform motorists that red light cameras are being installed at five Manteca intersections in the coming few weeks.
And once the fifth one is installed, a 30-day “grace period” will start for the red light cameras at all five intersections,
That means those violating the law by running a red light will get a warning notice in the mail.
Do so in the 31st day after the final intersection is up and running, and a citation costing you $490 will be mailed.
Based on projected timelines, citations that will hit violators in the pocket will start being issued sometime after Christmas.
The cameras are part of the City of Manteca’s efforts to reduce traffic carnage .
Red light running is the main factor in almost 20 percent of the 1,000 plus annual traffic collisions in Manteca.
The intersections receiving red light cameras are:
*Northgate Drive at North Main Street.
*Yosemite Avenue at Union Road.
*Daniels Street at Airport Way.
*Main Street at Louise Avenue.
*Yosemite Avenue at Commerce Drive-Northwoods Avenue.
Manteca Police Chief Stephen Schluer indicated red light cameras could be added at two other intersections as well.
If they are, a separate 30-day social media blitz plus a 30-day grace period will be instituted for those intersections.
California rolling stops could also earn drivers a ticket in the mail.
While California allows right turns after coming to a complete stop on a solid red light if it is safe to do so, it doesn’t allow such right turns on red arrow lights.
And that applies to the curb lane as well as a second turn lane such as on the southbound Highway 99 on-ramp from Yosemite Avenue.
As for the red light technology and running straight through red lights or rolling on a right turn through them, the protocols that trigger system responses that could lead to a possible ticket aren’t put in motion unless the vehicle is moving faster than 10 mph.
That is because unlike previous red light camera systems, the American Traffic Solutions uses radar and the latest high resolution cameras technology.
Twelve seconds prior to the light turning red, the system starts recording traffic as it approaches the intersection.
Still frames are captured if any part of a vehicle intrudes past the limit line — typically the marking of the crosswalk closest to the approaching car — when the light turns red.
Those still frames include ones that zero in in the driver as well as the license plate.
At the same time, the video is “stamped” with the speed the radar reads as the vehicle runs the red light.
The recording continues as the vehicle continues through the intersection.
All if that information is packaged together and forwarded to the Manteca Police Department.
At the police department, a traffic unit officer will look at the information.
They will check the photo of the driver from the camera system against the photo of the driver’s license of the registered owner whose information is on file with the DMV.
With California rolling stop cases, they will do what they would if they were using a ticket in the field — determine if the turn movement, even if the vehicle hadn’t come to a complete stop, justified the ticket.
Schluer previously indicated the speed threshold on right turns on red light will be pre-determined in a series of protocols the department will establish for officers reviewing the data in each instance.
Once everything meets the standard required to make sure it would pass muster with a judicial review, the officer OKs the company to go ahead and mail a citation with the photographic evidence and accompanying data such as speed, location, and time to the driver.
Typically, 70 percent of the potential red light violations the company cues up for more than 300 client law enforcement agencies results in tickets being authorized.
The red light cameras represent a $1.5 million commitment on the part of American Traffic Solutions in terms of the technology being installed as well as the support and processing of data that is collected and forwarded to Manteca Police for review.
California law requires contracts cities enter into with red light camera firms to be revenue neutral.
In a nutshell, that means American Traffic Solutions’ payment can’t be tied directly to the number of tickets issued.
Manteca will be billed monthly by the approach — with each intersection fully equipped with cameras has four approaches.
The city will submit payments on a quarterly basis relying on what revenue they derive from their roughly 25 percent share of a $490 red light ticket. The balance goes to the state and court system.
At the end of the year, if Manteca fails to cover the complete tab for the approach billings, American Traffic Systems forgives the balance.
The city is out nothing.
Should the revenue from red light running tickets exceed what American Traffic Systems is due, it will go into an account being created to help fund the future hiring of a community service officer to help augment the enforcement efforts of the police department’s six officer traffic unit.
Data compiled by the National Coalition for Safer Roads indicate:
*More than 800 people per year are killed in red light accidents.
*In 2021, 1,109 people were killed in crashes that involved red light running.
*Red light safety cameras reduced the fatal red light running crash rate in large cities by 21 percent and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections by 14 percent.
*In 14 cities where cameras were removed, the fatal red-light-running crash rate increased by 30%, and the rate of all fatal crashes increased by 16% at all signalized intersections.
*Red-light running crashes led to around 116,000 injuries and 928 fatalities in 2020.
*Red light cameras captured more than 100,600 offenses in Tampa, Florida in 2022
Typically, 70 percent of the individual instances where the technology uses radar, high definition cameras and such to identify red light runners pass muster of police officers reviewing the data.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
