[KHTS] – The city of Santa Clarita’s five-year contract with Redflex, which provides the seven red light cameras at local intersections, comes up for renewal April 1.
Initially, City Manager Ken Striplin would have renewed the contract, but due to a request from the City Council, the issue is scheduled to be discussed at the March 25 council meeting, said City Traffic Engineer Andrew Yi
Since the cameras were installed in 2004, there has been a significant decrease in the number of left- and right-turn broadside collisions, which often happen when someone violates a red light, Yi said.
A study comparing the three years prior to the implementation of red light cameras and six years afterward showed a 60 percent decrease, annually, Yi said.
Red light running incidents have also gone down by 71 percent, according to the city’s website.
“It is a safety device,” Yi said. “That’s the reason we put it in and (are) trying to change people’s behavior, being more responsible for traffic laws and control.”
The nature and length of the contract renewal are yet to be determined, and Yi said that a staff recommendation will be included in the agenda prior to the March 25 council meeting.
During the last five fiscal years, the city has nearly broken even between the costs and the revenue from the red light cameras.
The typical red light ticket is $490, an amount set by the state Legislature and Los Angeles County Superior Court, Yi said.
Approximately 6,600 approved violation notices are issued per year, or 18 per day, bringing in an average of $667,000 in revenues annually.
The red light cameras cost the city $569,000 each year.
But that ratio could change in coming months.
“There is a potential for revenue to decrease if new state laws are enacted that affect revenue distribution to the city,” Yi said.
He said that the council was prompted to put the contract renewal on the agenda because of comments they have received from residents.
There will be an additional opportunity for the public to comment on the issue during the council meeting.
The city currently has red light cameras at the seven following intersections:
* Lyons Avenue and Orchard Village Road
* McBean Parkway and Valencia Boulevard
* McBean Parkway and Magic Mountain Parkway
* McBean Parkway and Newhall Ranch Road
* Bouquet Canyon Road and Newhall Ranch Road
* Bouquet Canyon Road and Seco Canyon Road
* Soledad Canyon Road and Whites Canyon Road
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40 Comments
We dont need this thats why we got police to take care of it
Do they still work? I’ve seen many people run red light’s but never see the camera go off. I do think they should continue using them.
Let them go and hire real cops! Over 500k to keep this machine. We don’t want a machine to replace a real officer.
NO!!!
I’ve seen them go off when nobody is moving so who knows?
Unenforceable waste of money.
Oh they work! I got one ticket and almost $500
My husband was mail ticketed for going through a “yellow” light on the inside left turn lane neck and neck with a sheriff’s vehicle on the right lane. Contested, told too bad so sad, had to pay $300 plus. Little tough to support your local sheriff department (which we always did with donations) after this bogus donation. Way over our donation budget.
Surprised they never put one at the Soledad/ Bouquet intersection. That’s one of the heaviest traffic 4 way in the valley. As for letting the Police actually police roads, look at the scofflaws crossing the quad yellows in and out of the Diamond lanes, or driving solo.
Surprised they never put one at the Soledad/ Bouquet intersection. That’s one of the heaviest traffic 4 way in the valley. As for letting the Police actually police roads, look at the scofflaws crossing the quad yellows in and out of the Diamond lanes, or driving solo.
Way too big brother!!! Traffic enforcement is not supposed to be a revenue generator. Education and human interaction are missing
The city contracts with the Sheriff’s Dept just like the city contracts with the red light camera company. This is about revenue for the city, not stopping crime.
Please remove them. There’s been an increase of rear end collisions because of them. Thankfully I’ve not been involved in one…
Someone in L.A. has initiated a class action lawsuit claiming excessive penalties added to parking fines violates the 8th Amendment [Prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment. December 15, 1791]
These are a huge regulatory invasion with little reduction in frequency and severity of collisions or in net revenue to the city.
Don’t run red lights and you got nothing to worry about.
I think the fines are ridiculously, unjustly high. It doesn’t take that hard of a hit on the family budget or a teenager’s budget to learn a big lesson. Rethink the whole thing, please.
Nothing like a red light camera to increase rear end collisions at intersections….
What? I thought these things were deemed to be a joke? You get a ticket with a instagram photo and throw it in the trash and nothing happens. #WasteOfMoney
Expensive selfies!
I guess if people wouldn’t run the lights. The city couldn’t make money off these cameras? Yellow did mean slow! Not race into the intersection.
Yellow used to mean Go but you only have 3 seconds. Now it lasts less than 1 second and means Stop.
If the typical fine for a violation is $490 and the revenue the city collects is $667,000 on 6,600 tickets, that works out to an average of $101 collected. What happened to the other $389?
A red light camera ticket from ANY city (or the MTA) in LA County can be ignored, as the LA courts do not report ignored camera tickets to the DMV. This was revealed in LA Times articles in 2011. This includes Santa Clarita. Skeptical? Google: Red light camera no consequence.
Also, no matter where it came from, check to see if it is a Snitch Ticket, the fake/phishing camera tickets California police send out to bluff car owners into ID’ing the actual driver. Snitch Tickets say, at the top, “Courtesy Notice-This is not a ticket,” and you can ignore them, too! Skeptical? Google: Snitch Ticket.
These lights are a scam ! They flash when YELLOW
HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO BRAIN WASHED TO BELEAVE THE LIES THESE PEOPLE TELL YOU THE CAMERAS ARE NOT ABOUT SAFTEY THEY ARE THERE FOR REVENUE.THEY DONT MAKE THE SREETS SAFER ITS ALL A LIE WAKE UP PEOPLE
The Red Light camera renewal should be cancelled. It costs the city $599,00 a year and this money should be spent on giving the public postiive input not negative as the red light camera makes people HATE the city for installing these camera. Traffic fines are outrageous.
You have the right to face the ticketing official in court, all you have to do is request that the camera appear in court, it worked for me.
It seems to me that the City of Santa Clarita could easily employee at least two full time deputies with motorcycles to patrol not only the intersections where these seven cameras are located but also all others located within the city limits. These deputies would have the ability to make a positive identification of the violators and also look for other violations up to and including driving while intoxicated. I believe the city would have a much better chance of collecting fines than with the current contract with Redflex provides.
dump them. they cause more accidents than they prevent but are just easy money for the city. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/27/more-cities-putting-brakes-on-red-light-speeding-traffic-cameras/
dump them. they cause more accidents than they prevent but are just easy money for the city. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/27/more-cities-putting-brakes-on-red-light-speeding-traffic-cameras/
Aren’t they not legally binding? Since when is a third party non governmental entity allowed to issue traffic citations? Red flex is not government.
Dump these things! Expensive and unnecessary.
WE NEED TO STOP THE CORRUPTION IN OUR COURTS AND IN THE SHERIFFS DEPT.IF WE DO START HOLDING EVERY JUDGE EVERY DEPUTY SHERIFF EVERY PERSON THAT TAKES AN OATH TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION.WE CANT BLAME ANY ONE BUT OUR SELVES THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE NOT TELLING US THE TRUTH THE SIGNAL IS THE SAME WAY THEY ONLY PRINT WHAT THE POWERS BEHIND THE CORRUPTION LET THEM WE NEED TO START DOING OUR HOME WORK AND START TAKING BACK OUR COUNTRY.THE FRAUD AND THE CORRUPTION IN OUR COURT SYSTEM IS VERY DISTURBING THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR DRIVING A CAR.IF YOU CANT AFFORD A TICKET THEY TAKE YOUR LIFE AWAY THEY TAKE YOUR CAR THEY PUT YOU IN PRISON THERE ARD MORE PEOPLE IN PRISON IN THE LAND OF THE NOT SO FREE THEN IN ALL OF THE COMMUNIST COUNTRYS PUT TOGETHER .IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.IT MAKES ME SICK WHEN I SEE THE EVERY ONE SO BRAIN WASHED THAT THEY THINK THIS WILL PROTECT YOU WHEN THIS IS TREASON AGAINST US WE HAVE TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION NOW WAKE UP OR OUR CHILDREN WILL BE SLAVES AND IT WILL BE TO LATE .
Dennis V. said, “We need to stop the corruption in our courts…”
Actually, our LA Superior Court – evidently tired of holding its nose – did something amazing and unprecedented about these red light camera tickets. They decided that if they don’t hear from the defendant, they will not report the delinquent ticket to the DMV.
Thus, a red light camera ticket from ANY city (including SC, and the cameras in the Valley near the MTA Orange Line Busway) in LA County can be ignored. This was revealed in LA Times articles in 2011, and there’s been lots more articles since then, in the Daily News and the LA Weekly. Skeptical? Google: Red light camera no consequence.
There have been people geting tickets from the new toll road and the red.light cameras and what makes these tickets so wrong.the picture and the car is not matched with lic. plate thats not me and thats not my car but thats my.lic.plate.That is why we cant allow these cameras to police our streets cameras are not reliable witnesses for the plaintiff as it is when you go to traific court there is no court reporter and there is no prosecuting attorney the cop is the prosecution it doesn’t matter if you are not guilty or guilty it id about one thing and one thing only stealing your money I have never in my life ever experienced such fraud and injustice as when I went to traffic court in santa Clarita they take your lic.when ever they feel like it with out any mercy at all they desrtoy your freedom if you cant afford a ticket making you a criminal and most people have to drive to work.Not including the people that lose there jobs and then it one less person that was functional paying taxes it HAS TO STOP WE HAVE GOT TO STOP THIS CORRUPTION IN THE COURTS AND IN THE SHERIFFS DEPT THEY TAKE YOUR CAR THAT YOU PAY FOR WOLFS TOWING IS MAKING A FORTUNE OFF OF POOR PEOPLE WITH FAMILYS THAT END UP UNDER THE BRIDGE IT MAKES ME SICK TO THINK WE LET THIS HAPPEN!!!IF WE DONT STOP THIS IT WILL CONTINUE TO DESTROY OUR ECONOMY OUR RESIDENTS AND OUR CHILDREN WILL BE SLAVES..
We need to start doing our home work and start learning law because if you dont understand law you wont be able to protect your faimlys from a corrupt system that starts from the top all the way down we have got to start holding these people to there oaths of office if they dont uphold the constitution it is a felony and they could go to prison for up to five years this corruption is destoying our country please wake up and start thinking for your selfs stop listening to the mainstream media they are not reporting the truth.This could very well be the most important life changing warning you will ever read but mark my words if we dont take LEGAL action real quick our world our community will be in big trouble god save us all.
Dennis V. was concerned about “…families that end up under the bridge.”
Personally, I am retired and living on social security, so have already staked out my space under one of the bridges, and and comforted to see that the City and State are raising taxes ever higher so that they can build MORE bridges.
Since I am retired, I will be sure to be at the council meeting on Tuesday the 25th, at 6 pm. Those who aren’t retired can send the council a note, c/o the council secretary, at jskinner (at) santa-clarita (dot) com
The fraud in our courts and the corruption in our sheriff’s dept has done more damage then good most people are living pay check to pay check.tickets average 500 dollars that is far from a slap on the wrist its highway robbery and if you cant aford this outrageous fine they take your license.Its how thet are inslaving our citizens then we are criminals for driving a car and wolfs towing are making a fortune of this criminal fraudulent act against we the the people most people dont really see how bad things really are.We cant let this happen every time they take away some ones license it make one less functioning person in our society on less tax payer it destroys our economy .
One of the biggest problems is the dmv are directly responsible for DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES ALONG WITH THE COURTS IN SANTA CLARITA BE TAKING YOUR DRIVERS LIC.FOR ANY LITTLE REASON THEY TAKE YOUR RIGHT TO TRAVEL WE DONT DRIVE WE TRAVEL ITS YOUR GOD GIVIN RIGHT NO ONE CAN TAKE FROM YOU ANY ONE PERSON OR GROUP OF PERSONS THAT GIVE UP.FREEDOM OR LIBERTYS FOR PROTECTION DESERVES NEITHER BENJAMIN FRANKLAND THIS IS THE END GAME PEOPLE ITS TIME TO WAKE UP BEFORE it HAPPENS TO YOU iTS AN INFECTION THAT , KEEPS SPREADING SOME.DAY U WILL LOOK BACK AND YOI WILL REMEMBER MY WORDS AND YOU WILL WISH YOU WOULD HAVE LISTENED BUT IT WILL TO LATE WHEN YOU RELIZE IYS. A BIG CLUB AND YOU ARE NOT IN IT GOD HELP US PLEASE !!