Smile for the Red Light

Next time you run a red light in Thousand Oaks, smile. You could be on the Police Department’s candid camera.

City officials are exploring the idea of installing automatic cameras at nearly a dozen busy intersections to catch scofflaws in the act. The cameras would snap a photo of a vehicle’s front and back license plates and record its speed. The information would be sent to police.

Oxnard and Ventura, among other cities, use the technique and have seen a 40% to 50% decline in collisions caused by red-light violators.

Thousand Oaks decided to look into the tactic after a truck heading south on Avenida de Las Flores ran a red light and slammed into a pickup truck last October, killing a passenger. A decision on whether to proceed depends on further study and the results of a city residents opinion survey.

In Thousand Oaks, intersections dubbed ready for their close-ups include Moorpark Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Lynn Road and Hillcrest Drive, and Ventu Park Road and Hillcrest Drive.

“Those are very complicated intersections, with controlled left and right turns,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who serves as the Thousand Oaks police chief. “Having an officer set up to work the red light and pursue the violator can create almost as much potential for an accident as can the violation itself.”

We supported the idea when Oxnard first considered it and we believe Oxnard’s success should encourage Thousand Oaks to follow suit. To those who mutter that intersection cameras somehow violate their right to privacy, we say don’t break the law and you have nothing to fear.

Intersection cameras improve traffic safety, teach a hard-to-ignore message to drivers who gamble with the lives of others and more than pay for themselves with income from the fines. We’re all for them.