Red light cameras installed
Posted: 08.27.2010 at 9:35 PM
 / FOX21 News: Mike Duran
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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Drivers crossing through the intersection at Platte and Murray may feel like they're being watched, because they are.

Red light cameras are being installed at four intersections throughout the city:

Westbound Platte and Murray
Westbound Platte and Circle
Northbound Nevada and Bijou
Eastbound Barnes and Oro Blanco

Crews have already completed the installation of the cameras at the intersection of Platte and Murray.

Drivers heading through that intersection may notice cameras and bright flashes, but they don’t have to worry about getting at ticket, at least not yet. The red light cameras at Platte and Murray are fully operational, but officers won't start issuing tickets until the middle of October.

Police said the busy intersection is known to have a lot of red light runners and side impact crashes.

“You take those two combinations, and that's a deadly recipe," Sgt. Steve Noblitt with the Colorado Springs Police Department said. "And that's why traffic cameras are going up here."

The traffic cameras will take pictures from several different angles and a 12 second video of drivers crossing through the intersection. Then an officer will review the footage.

"It's going to be going to a machine to a police officer who is gonna review it and then to your mailbox if there's probable cause,” Noblitt said.

Officers are looking for any cars that cross what is known as the stop bar, or the large white line before a crosswalk, after the light turns red.

"Seeing the yellow light means begin to slow down because the intersection is about to go red. It does not mean hurry up so you can get through the intersection,” Noblitt said.

Police said they will review each case before issuing a ticket for $75.  However, the violation won't cause any points to be added to the driver’s record.

Cameras at the intersection have already started taking pictures, but Noblitt said they are only being tested and warnings won’t be issued until the middle of September. Then after a month of warnings being sent out, tickets will begin being issued.

"So don't worry about it, we're not going to be sending you a bunch of tickets. It's just a test," Noblitt said.

Even though drivers won’t be getting a ticket in the mail yet, Noblitt said everyone still needs to stop.

"I want to stress that it's important for everybody that they need to recognize that they need to be stopping at the red lights,” Noblitt said.

The hope is that by installing these cameras it will free up more officers to respond to other calls.

"It allows us to focus on enforcement at these intersections but not actually have to be at those intersections 24 hours a day," Noblitt said.

Noblitt said there is a concern the cameras could actually cause more accidents because of people slamming on their breaks. But he said rear-end types of crashes usually involve a lot less serious injuries than side impact crashes, which happen when people run red lights.