Smile! You’re on red-light camera
When it comes to mangled vehicles being towed away from an intersection, this Outer East Portland crossroads in the Gateway area didn’t win top prize – it’s in third place.
The intersection of Southeast Washington Street at 103rd Avenue racked up 35 traffic smash-ups in the past four years – every one of them caused by a driver running a red light.
However, this Outer East Portland intersection does have the honor of being the first to receive a brand-new red light camera system that automatically snaps photos of vehicles running a red signal.
“Portland uses red light cameras because they are an important tool for improving traffic safety,” says Sgt. Dan Costello of the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division. “Angle crashes are more than two times more likely to result in serious injuries and fatalities than rear-end crashes.”
Caught on film
On Feb. 27, foreman Jeff Yost of Electrical Construction Company and his apprentice, Jason Rickford, hoisted the new camera-bearing pole and secured it to the sidewalk in front of the Old Chicago restaurant.
Soon, Tony May, an installation specialist from Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), the company contracted to install and operate Portland’s red light cameras, arrived to oversee the final installation of the box and hardware.
“This won’t be a video camera; we’ll be installing what we call a ‘wet film’ camera,” May said. “A magazine holding enough high-resolution Fuji film to take at least 200 shots is attached to the camera.”
How often the technician will have to change the magazine depends on traffic, May added as a car whizzed through a red light. “Looking at the traffic right here, I think it’ll get quite a bit of business.”
A computerized, impartial witness
While Yost and Rickford wrestled the heavy camera pole – made from steel and aircraft-quality parts – into place, May pointed out parts of the system, including detection loops buried in the pavement, and photo flash units mounted on poles near the intersection.
The system activates based on the timing of the traffic light. When a vehicle runs a red light, the system takes two pictures.
The first photo snaps only if the traffic light is red and a vehicle crosses the detection loops located behind the wide, white “stop line.” Using a time-distance calculation, the system’s computer determines when to take the second photo – one that shows the vehicle traveling through the middle of the intersection.
“You’d be surprised at how clear the photos are,” May said. “You can see drivers doing all kinds of things, like drinking a beer, while they are running the red light.”
Warnings issued through March 16
According to Cheryl E. Kuck at the Portland Office of Transportation, they’ll fire up the new camera Monday, March 3. “During a test period, Portland Police will be checking the violation photos and mailing warning letters to drivers,” Kuck said.
“Beginning Monday, March 17,” she cautioned, “motorists who run a red light at this intersection may receive a $245 fine. Each photograph is reviewed by a police officer to ensure there is evidence of a violation before a citation is issued.”
Three more red light cameras to come
Outer East Portland’s No. 1 crash spot, Southeast Foster Road at 96th Avenue – with 53 red light crashes in four years – isn’t likely to see a red light camera soon; the project is “beginning the design phase.”
However, the second-place intersection at Southeast Stark Street at 102nd Avenue, with 44 red-light crashes logged – located just a block north of the first installation – will have the unblinking eye of the law snapping scofflaws’ photos in just two months.
Also in the neighborhood, at Southeast Stark Street at 99th Avenue, because of 19 red light crashes, another system will be installed before summer.