Arnold city officials have agreed to temporarily suspend issuing red-light camera tickets until the city has time “to review its options,” said City Administrator Bryan Richison in a Feb. 21 written statement.
“We hope the Missouri Supreme Court brings some consistency to the law so that local governments can make decisions on how best to protect their citizenry,” he said.
Earlier this month the Arnold City Council decided to stop prosecuting red-light camera tickets, but the city continued issuing the tickets and collecting fines from those who didn’t fight them.
Last night (Feb. 20), however, voted unanimously to stop issuing the red-light camera tickets, at least for now.
American Traffic Solutions, the company that installed and maintains the cameras and gets about a third of the revenue generated by the tickets, has a contract with the city requiring that it issue the tickets.
However, the company has agreed not to sue the city while it temporarily suspends issuing the tickets, Richison said today (Feb. 21).
In addition, ATS has agreed to allow city officials to wait until June 1 to decide whether to renew its contract for another two years, Richison said
Previously, the company required the city to give 60 days notice before June 1 if it wanted to end the contract. Otherwise, the contract would have automatically been extended for two years.
Arnold city attorney Bob Sweeney said in the written statement that the U.S. District Court Magistrate ruled in 2009 that the city’s red-light camera ordinance was “civil” and therefore was legal. Recently, though, a Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that the ordinance was “criminal.”
“This recent Court of Appeals ruling not only appears to be in conflict with the federal court ruling, but also with prior Court of Appeals rulings,” Sweeney said in the statement.
Therefore, the city wants the Missouri Supreme Court to weigh in before a final decision is made about the red-light cameras.
City officials said the red-light cameras have improved safety.
“Red-light safety cameras were installed to change driver behavior and that’s exactly what they did,” the statement said. “Nearly 96 percent of drivers who received and paid one violation did not receive another one. This is a strong indication that drivers in Arnold are diving more safely at the intersections monitored by the cameras.”
The city has red-light cameras at three intersections – at Hwy. 141 and Jeffco Boulevard, at Vogel and Richardson roads and on Jeffco in front of Rockport Heights Elementary School.
At one time, the city also had a camera on Hwy. 141 at Astra Way, but that has not been operating since last year, when improvements were made to that intersection.
Since the red-light cameras were installed in 2005, there have been no fatal or serious accidents at those intersections, and prior to that there were “three fatal ones caused by red-light runners,” the report said.
City officials warned drivers “to continue to obey traffic laws and drive safe while the city reviews their options regarding the red-light safety camera program.”
Since the red-light cameras were installed, they have generated about $2 million in fines and court costs, with the city taking in about $1,234,075 in fines and another $781,868 for court costs and ATS making $999,834 on the tickets.