Drivers might want to think twice before flooring it through the intersection at Summit Street and Chittenden Avenue.
The Columbus Division of Police, along with the City of Columbus Focus on Safety Program, has installed its seventh photo-red light in the city. The camera is located at the corner of Summit and Chittenden, just under two miles from the Ohio State campus.
The photo-red light cameras are a part of a campaign to stop drivers from speeding up at stop lights at 13 intersections in the city.
The first of the cameras was installed on March 7, and Columbus police officer Betty Schwab said additional installations are scheduled.
“It’s been very successful,” Schwab said of the program. “We actually saw a 40 percent decrease in red light violations in the first 30 days of the program.”
According to Schwab, intersections that receive cameras are considered high risk intersections or those that have recorded high amounts of dangerous “T-bone” type accidents, in which the front of one car hits the side of another.
Once the camera is in place, motorists have a 30-day grace period where only a warning is given to violators.
“It’s just a standard protocol,” Schwab said of the grace period. “It’s just to let drivers get used to the camera.”
Schwab said the camera takes pictures of the violator’s license plates as they run the light. Once the plates are matched and the registered owner is notified and given three options.
“First, they can pay the $95 fine. If they don’t do that, they can nominate another driver if they weren’t the one driving at the time of the incident. Finally, they can appeal their notification,” Schwab said.
According to Columbus police, those who do appeal their notification will have to request a hearing.
Even with the success of the program overall, Schwab says there are still people who do not approve of the project.
According to Schwab, those people feel the program is nothing but big brother looking down at them. Some groups, such as the National Motorists Association oppose the use of photo-red lights and help motorists fight their citations.
Melanie Holiday, a third-year student in health information management and systems, said she feels that the installation is only an act of safety, not a “big brother” type of situation.
“We have red light cameras back where I live in Houston,” Holiday said. “The only problem there is people slam on their brakes because they don’t want to get caught and they get rear-ended.”
Megan Schwartz, a junior in radiological sciences and therapy, said she thinks the new photo light could help cut down some city motorists’ poor driving habits.
“I like the idea of the program,” Schwartz said. “I think it could help stop some reckless driving and maybe slow down some of the aggressive city driving too.”
