Smile! You’re on red-light camera

By David Ashton

The Gresham Outlook, Mar 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

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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.”