November 1st is the day Houston joins the ranks of red light camera (revenue generating) cities:
The City of Houston has identified five intersections with the greatest number of accidents. Starting November 1, 2005, cameras installed at those intersections will snap a picture of your license plate if you run the red light.
Here is the catch — if you are caught running the red light you will only receive a letter in the mail, not a ticket. The letter will explain that you are part of an evaluation project. It is not known where these cameras will be installed, only that the testing phase will last the entire month of November.
The city is in the process of choosing a vendor. They are deciding between five different companies.
“We will make a final decision by December and hopefully kick off the program in full force by January of ’06,” said Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
In January, the city will start with 10 intersections that have the greatest number of accidents and in the months after that they will expand to as many as 15 intersections. At that point if you run a red light you will receive a ticket in the mail.
You just know that MayorWhiteChiefHurtt are giddy with excitement at the revenue Houston will soon be seeing. Will that money be dedicated to fixing the police manpower shortage? Pshaw! We have a museum to fund!
Here’s one list of dangerous intersections, so the first five could be among those.
Another thing to keep in mind — Houston will be able to issue red light camera tickets by treating them as civil penalties instead of criminal penalties. That difference makes it a bit tougher for the city to collect the fine.
The best resource for red light camera shenanigans (of which there will be none in Houston, according to expert-on-everything Bob Stein) is The Newspaper. It’s highly recommended reading … for those who don’t have blood pressure problems. The Newspaper is where I found the Washington Post investigative story about intersections with red light cameras in the District of Columbia seeing dramatic increases in accidents, including those causing injury and death.
Safety, schmafety.
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