We represent people of Nassau County who request to reduce the red light camera fine from $150 to $50 per occurrence. As this amount is unreasonably high. To give some points of reference—the same violation is fined at $50 in NYC and $50 in Suffolk. With the rising prices of food and utilities, this level of fine puts extra unnecessary burdens to the families.

A neighbor said 70% of red light summons are for not making a full stop before making a right turn. To avoid this type of tickets could be tricky and some of the locations are known traps yet without ‘No turn on red’ signs. An administrative hearing  reviewer at Nassau county traffic and parking violations agency disclosed to me that she recently also received such a violation ticket.

Some people could argue that such high amount of fine could promote safety and reduce accidents. However data suggests the contrary:

In 2016, red-light cameras at 86 intersections resulted in 505,089 tickets, bringing in $48.5 million, according to an online report.

However, the report also showed that compared with 2015 at red-light camera intersections:

 • Total accidents increased 8.42 percent, to 1,764.
 • Accidents with injuries rose 6.8 percent, to 563.
 • Rear-end crashes increased 10.8 percent, to 785.
 • Side-impact crashes rose 11.7 percent, to 782.
• Rear end collisions up 10% 

We all want our neighborhood and community to be safe, but the data suggests high red ticket fine is not the way to go. It’s possible a big contributing factor that exacerbates the worsening of traffic accident condition. As data suggested, people avoiding red light ticketing could hit the brakes aggressively, resulting in increased rear end collisions at the intersections after such cameras were installed.

Some neighbors would also like to add the following questions to the petition that they hope the county can provide answers to:

1) Please provide data as to what company is being contracted for this service and the terms and conditions.
2) What is the financial arrangement between Nassau County and the company that provides this service?  We understand that there is a revenue sharing arrangement.  We believe that there is an inherent conflict of interest when government enters into an arrangement to levy fines on the public and then shares the revenue generated from such fines with a private company.  Through such an arrangement, the private company has an incentive to issue as many tickets as possible.
3) We would like to see independent data as to the results of the red light camera program and not data provided by the company.  We would like to see an organization such as AAA weigh in here.
4) We believe that the program is not generating the safety success that is being touted as there have been many studies that show that intersections where red light cameras have been placed, there has been an increase in rear end collisions.
5) If this is touted as a safety program, then all revenue generated from this program should be used for safety measures.  Please provide data that shows this.
6) Our understanding is that the red light camera program has a sunset.  Meaning that it is not written into law to go on forever.  How is success measured to achieve sunset of the program?
7) Does Nassau county provide a list of individuals to the company that is used for the red light program who are exempt from receiving red light camera tickets?
8) The venue for challenging red light camera tickets is deemed to be an administrative hearing.  We want the rights of due process in being able to challenge such tickets in a court of law.
9) Intersections that have red light cameras should not permit right on red.
10) We would like to see what safety programs Nassau County has implemented besides the red light camera program (i.e. speed bumps, barriers, etc.)

Bearing the above in mind, we implore the County to find new sources of revenue and make the change to lower the red light camera violation fine to $50 per occurrence. 

Thank you for reading!