Smile for the
red light cameras . . .

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

Motorists who didn’t get the picture the first time might want to pay attention now.
On June 6 at 3 p.m., five new red light cameras were installed on Roosevelt Boulevard at Mascher, Levick and Rhawn streets and Welsh and Southampton roads.
The cameras snap pictures of any motorist who runs a red light, including when they make a right turn on red.
City Council authorized putting the cameras at the additional intersections, targeted because of their traffic volume. The new cameras join original devices installed at Cottman Avenue, Grant Avenue and Red Lion Road in 2005. Two more red light cameras operate in South Philadelphia.
The new cameras carry a 60-day warning period that ends Aug. 5, when violators will start seeing $100 fines in the mail. The tickets add no points to a motorist’s license, but can increase to as much as $175 if unpaid.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority touts the camera program’s success in decreasing light running at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue by as much as 90 percent, about 40 percent more than in other cities that employ the devices.
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety attributes the large decrease to the cameras and additional yellow-light time at the two intersections.
"The red light cameras in Philadelphia have worked and we feel like it’s a great program," said Vince Fenerty, executive director of the PPA.
City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.), whose district encompasses the camera system at Southampton Road, is happy that the probationary period is 60 days shorter than it was for the first three cameras.
"I think it’s a good thing to do on the Boulevard, but we should also go into neighborhoods," he said. He mentioned Grant Avenue and Academy Road, Knights and Woodhaven roads and Academy Road and Frankford Avenue as intersections he’d like to see camera-controlled.
Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.), whose constituent base covers the cameras at Levick Street, Rhawn Street and Welsh Road, says the new cameras are another step toward making Roosevelt Boulevard safer.
"The implementation of additional cameras is just one of many measures being studied to improve safety along this corridor," she said. "We need to do everything possible to improve the conditions on the Boulevard."
Still being crafted in the state legislature is a bill that would add speed cameras to the Boulevard. State Rep. George Kenney (R-170th dist.) is heading the effort.
Kenney hoped to finish drafting the bill this week. He expects it to take about six months to a year to get the cameras up and running.
There’s a possibility that some of the red light cameras will also become speed cameras, but Kenney thinks speeding between those already-monitored intersections needs to be addressed.
"They’re gaps on the Boulevard where I think the speeding occurs," he said.
Fenerty said that red light runners caught on camera will not be subject to the double fines set forth when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation designated the highway as a safety corridor. Motorists pulled over by the police for moving violations can get those heftier fines.
Fenerty believes that the cameras are bringing long-lasting changes to the roadway.
"People have now changed their habits along the Boulevard," he said. ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com