Manatee County to test new approach to red-light cameras. Will you still get a ticket?
Over the next four months, drivers in Manatee County will not be ticketed for certain traffic violations that are caught by red-light cameras.
The Manatee Board of County Commissioners approved the trial period in order to study the safety and financial impacts of decreasing the number of tickets that are issued through the use of the cameras. Next summer, board members will review the data to determine how to move forward.
The temporary change to red-light camera tickets only applies to the citations issued for right-hand turns that drivers make without slowing down to at least 12 mph before turning the corner. Instead of a ticket, the sheriff’s office may send the driver a letter warning them that they were caught committing a traffic violation.
Changes to camera citations do not apply to drivers caught running a red light straight through an intersection. Those instances will still result in a ticket.
Tuesday’s decision to hold off on certain tickets came after a briefing from some of the county’s top public safety officials on how the red-light camera program works.
Manatee County’s red-light cameras have been in effect for about 10 years. A local resident, Melissa Wandall, led a successful statewide campaign to pass a law allowing the use of the cameras after her husband, Mark, was killed by a driver who ran a red light in 2003.
Wandall asked the board to keep issuing citations for every red-light violation, including right-hand turns. Citations and the financial penalties that come with them save lives, she said
“The next time you get a complaint from one of your constituents that received a ticket, you should congratulate them for not taking a life,” Wandall said. “The pain is vast and the pain is real.”
How do red-light cameras work?
If you receive a ticket from a red light camera in the mail, chances are that you broke the law, said Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells.
As unpopular as they may be, the county’s red-light cameras are saving lives and reducing crashes, Wells said. Video evidence of every violation is reviewed by a deputy to make sure that the ticket is justified.
“It’s not a picture, it’s a video. It shows where they are and when the light turned red,” Wells said, explaining how deputies process citations. “We throw about 30 percent of those out. It has to be a clear-cut violation.”
“Do I believe they work? Yes. Do I believe they save lives? Yes. Do I believe they’re controversial? Yes,” he continued. “That’s why we make sure it’s clear-cut.”
More than 70,000 residents have moved to Manatee County since the first red-light cameras were installed, but red-light crashes have not increased in that time. Well said that’s proof that the cameras are improving driver behavior.
“The crash data is pretty consistent with minor decreases throughout the year. It’s not a significant decrease in crashes, but we haven’t seen any increase,” he explained. “To me, with all the population growth and the vehicles that we have on the highway now, that means something.”
Are illegal right turns unsafe?
Most commissioners said they were willing to see how the four-month trial period would affect the number of crashes reported. The test period will also give insight into how red-light traffic tickets impact the county’s revenue. Each ticket provides revenue for various government agencies, including $75 for the county.
Getting rid of the right-hand turn citations is expected to cut that revenue significantly. About two-thirds of the county’s red-light tickets come from right-hand turns, with the other third coming from drivers caught running a red light through an intersection.
Board members contested that those right-hand turns are less of a safety concern, especially when the footage shows that no other cars or pedestrians were in the area.
“I’m seeing a lot of right-hand turns that people are making where there’s literally no one coming from the left-hand side,” Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said. “These are working-class people and we’re taking hundreds of dollars out of their pocket when in a lot of instances, I don’t see what the issue is.”
“I really don’t like getting tickets for making a right turn, but I understand that if you make the turn, you’ve broken the law,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh added.
Cpt. Stanley Schaeffer, one of the sheriff’s office deputies in charge of the red-light camera program, urged commissioners to proceed with caution. Turning off the cameras will result in pedestrian deaths, he predicted.
“You’re willing to take a chance on a pedestrian’s life because that’s going to be the result of a right-hand turn on red,” Schaeffer said.
What happens next?
Board members voted 4-3 to approve the four-month trial period limiting traffic citations caught by red-light cameras. Commissioners Van Ostenbridge, Baugh, James Satcher and George Kruse voted in favor, while Commissioners Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore voted against the change.
Randy Warren, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said law enforcement officials are still considering different options on how to handle the temporary changes. The issue is complicated by the fact that the videos are key in crash and fatality investigations.
“These are the kind of things where the evidence is critical to have,” Warren said.
The sheriff’s office expects to finalize its approach to the red-light camera changes in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
