![]() We’ve gotten tickets in the mail for violations that weren’t ours, from as far away as the Bay Area and Southern California, when cams in toll lanes and intersections misread the plate - say, when the bottom part of an ‘E’ was obscured by a license plate frame, making it read like an ‘F.’ As you can imagine, that sort of thing leads to a lot of frustration and wasted time - for both the innocent driver and the people paid to field the calls. On the minus side, the technology isn’t foolproof. In theory, anyway, when drivers are paying enough attention to notice though that’s no different than blowing past a police car. Ideally, cams should recoup their cost, if not bring in more funding - perhaps enough to add officers.īut with the goal being safety, the presence of cameras should deter drivers from racing through red lights. Van Overbeek estimates $250,000 a year in pay, equipment and vehicle expenses to put an officer on patrol. Is it? We see both pros and cons to automated traffic tickets. Van Overbeek calls the move “a no brainer.” He says he spoke with police in Redding and elsewhere, along with Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge, who supports the technology combined with more officers. Van Overbeek did some research before making the request. ![]() Who would operate the cameras, the city or an outside vendor? How much would they cost and generate? Would they replace, or allow for, more patrols? How do they work in cities like ours? Mayor Andrew Coolidge voted no - “No way,” to be exact, for reasons we’ll get into - but the proposal moved forward to a future meeting. They couldn’t go into details at this point beyond brief background from the proponent, Councilor Tom van Overbeek, that Chico had nine fatal crashes last year but only one officer assigned to traffic patrol. At least any who have sped through an intersection to beat a red light.Ĭouncilors voted last week to discuss installing traffic cameras at busy intersections to boost enforcement and, hopefully, make streets safer. At the tail end of a meeting hardly anyone attended, the Chico City Council made a procedural decision that could affect every driver in Chico.
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