Fears that members of a funeral procession could find themselves getting a ticket delayed approval Tuesday of a red light camera program for Sudbury.
Approved in principle in January, the current proposal would see the cameras installed at three intersections — Paris Street at Cedar Street, Regent Street at Algonquin Road and Municipal Road 80 at Dominion Drive – and at another three still to be determined.
The cameras only take pictures of the rear license plate of a vehicle – photos from the front would raise privacy concerns — and no demerit points are issued.
“The ticket is issued to the owner of the vehicle, not the driver,” said Joe Rocca, the city's traffic and asset management supervisor. “There's no way to tell who was driving.”
The fines are $325, of which $265 goes to the city, and $60 to the province for the victim surcharge fine.
Costs for operating the cameras is about $500,000 a year, and estimating for one ticket a day, would result in revenue of $580,000, at least initially. As drivers get used to the cameras, fewer tickets would be issued.
“There will be a decrease in revenue,” Rocca said.
Studies have shown the cameras reduce collisions related to running a red light by 25 per cent. While they increase rear-end collisions initially by 15 per cent, Rocca said the right-angle crashes that result from red-light infractions are far more serious and more often lead to serious injury or death.
Toronto, London, Ottawa, Hamilton and the Regions of Peel, Halton, Waterloo and York already have them. Toronto processes all the photos and sends the information to each city, which actually issues the ticket.
While most councillors were in favour of the plan as a way to improve road safety, they had issues with how the ticketing process works.
Specifically, tickets would be issued to emergency services vehicles who drive through red lights while responding to an emergency. Rocca said the city would have to pay for those tickets.
And the spectre of people in a funeral procession getting a ticket was a big concern for some councillors.
“The last call I want to receive is from a grieving family saying the city has sent me a $300 plus ticket, along with 20 other vehicles in the procession,” said Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier.
Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan said he liked the idea of improved safety, but not the possibility of mourners getting fined.
“I will not support this if we're going to hear about a funeral procession with 20 cars getting a $325 ticket,” Kirwan said. “Until we can resolve this issue, I can't support this.”
Rocca said the city can work with funeral homes in the area to be aware of where the cameras are located and ensure cars stop at the red lights.
But councillors voted to defer a decision until next month to give staff time to address the issue, as well as to find out whether they can prevent their own EMS vehicles from needlessly being ticketed, among other issues.
