Just a MoJo

Drivers who run red lights in Waco may soon be captured on cameras and might face stiff fines.

The Waco City Council heard a presentation on red light photo enforcement within the city Tuesday afternoon.
Chris Taylor of the City’s legal services department said that the goal of the program is the preservation of life and the reduction of injuries in automobile collisions. In his presentation, Taylor emphasized the point that the cameras were not an attempt to raise City revenue.

“This is not an attempt to increase the City’s revenue stream,” Taylor said, “but is an attempt to try to preserve life.”

Taylor explained to the council members that the red light camera process is made up of several elements. When the light turns red, any cars in the intersection will trigger sensors in the pavement which will then set off the camera capture system.

“It works like a parking ticket, since there is no way to tell who the driver was, we send the citation to the vehicle’s registered owner.”

“The cameras will then take several pictures of the car in question but not the driver” Taylor emphasized. City officials will then examine each series of pictures for the violation to determine if a violation actually occurred.

A citation letter explaining the violation will be sent to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner, much like the city’s parking violation process.

Opponents of the red light photo enforcement program say that this system is inaccurate because the citation is sent to the vehicle’s owner rather than the driver who committed the violations.

Taylor spoke about the argument by explaining that the citation is a civil citation rather than a criminal citation, so no arrest warrant would be issued if the fine went unpaid.

The council decided to hold off on further discussion of the issue until current legislation in Austin runs the red tape marathon.

According to Senate bill 120 that passed in Austin on Tuesday, cities with red light photo enforcement programs must share 50 percent of its revenues with the State.

Current state law neither allows nor prohibits red light photo enforcement.