Traffic cameras capped for now

Marisa O’Neil

Drivers who get flashed by red-light cameras at two intersections may

still get away with a warning and not a ticket, following a court

decision Wednesday.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review a

lower court’s decision preventing the city from issuing the $337

citations from red-light cameras at two Newport Boulevard

intersections. A judge in Orange County Superior Court ruled in

February that the city had not given proper notice of the camera

installations and that it could not have them at Caltrans-operated

intersections.

The city lost an appeal in March and took the case to the Supreme

Court.

Other cities with cameras at similar intersections could face the

same battle, city attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow said.

“We hoped they would [review the case],” Barlow said of the

Supreme Court’s decision. “We thought they were issues of statewide

importance. There are no state decisions that answer the question if

this court’s reading of the statute is correct or everyone else’s

reading of the statute is correct.”

The lower court’s decision came after someone fought a ticket he

received as the result of being photographed running a red light at

the intersection at Newport Boulevard and 19th Street. The yellow

light, he argued, was too short.

Following that decision, the city issued a public notice that the

cameras would be in use, as required by state law. They suspended

issuing citations during that time. The city had issued the notice

only for the first of its four cameras, which Barlow said was

adequate according to the city’s interpretation of the law.

The city is still issuing tickets to drivers snapped running red

lights at the intersections of Anton Boulevard and Bristol Street,

and Adams Avenue and Harbor Boulevard.

But drivers photographed by the cameras on Newport Boulevard -- at

17th Street and 19th Street -- will continue to receive only

warnings.

That’s because the court ruled that the city did not control the

intersections and the timing of the lights. Caltrans operates the

intersections.

The timing at those intersections is set as required by Caltrans,

Barlow said. But the court is requiring the city to have a contract

with the California Department of Transportation, she said.

The city is working out such a contract, Barlow said.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Rich Allum said the department will keep

issuing the warnings at the two disputed intersections. The number of

accidents has decreased at the intersections with red-light cameras

since they were installed in 2003, he said.

“We firmly believe it’s a safety issue,” Allum said. “We’re

continuing the warnings as an educational tool. People see it, and it

brings it to their attention. They see the camera and think, ‘OK, I

did run that red light.’”

But cameras or not, running a red light can still get you a ticket

if an officer sees you do it, Sgt. Marty Carver said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.