Running A Red Light? Say 'Cheese!'
They chose the first two sites as a result of a study by the Arizona company that owns the cameras. The company strung cameras at 10 intersections and counted the violators.
Commander Greg Wood says the two worst intersections were on Auburn Way South, the worst at 4th SE.
"We had 52 violations in a 12-hour period," he said.
So now there's a "Robbie the Robot" thing monitoring traffic here, snapping pictures of all those red light running no-gooders and taking 12 seconds of video to prove it.
KOMO 4 News asked Sergeant Jamie Sidell: "Does it work?" His reply: "It's working now and it's working in other parts of the country."
Many motorists admit red light-running is a problem that police should concentrate on. But some had reservations about cameras doing that job.
"I don't think it's fair," one said. "They (police) should be out there doing their job."
A second said, "I think it's a bad idea. It's sort of like big brother checking up on us like that."
The police response from Commander Wood: "We have heard some big brother comments and 'You are just trying to keep track of us.' We're not. Nor are we trying to raise revenue. We're just trying to stop the incidents of red light violations and accidents from occurring."
If you think..."ah well, that's Auburn. I live in Seattle," look out. It's coming to Seattle, to Fairview and Denny. The cameras are installed. They'll be up and running by the end of the month.
Why are Seattle and Auburn doing this? Literature from the company which owns the camera says think of the cost of 12 officers -- and they claim each camera is that effective in catching red light violators.
For the first month, drivers caught on camera going through a red light will get a warning and a picture to prove what happened. Beginning in July, they'll get a $101 ticket.