Jefferson looks at red light cameras
Speeders in Jefferson may soon be caught by cameras located at red lights.
The Jefferson City Council will decide at its Dec. 22 meeting whether or not to approve a proposal from police chief Joe Wirthman to locate cameras at traffic lights on Hwy. 129 at I-85. The cameras would not be placed at the traffic light in downtown Jefferson.
A study was conducted of the traffic volume, accident rates and violations at all of the traffic lights in town. The traffic lights at I-85 had the most accidents and speeders.
At a meeting Monday night, Wirthman said the cameras would reduce the number of accidents.
“This is mainly a public safety issue,” he said.
But one councilman wasn’t so sure.
“Many studies have shown those cause accidents instead of prevent them,” said councilman Roy Plott.
An official with Lasercraft, a company that offers the cameras, said they have seen a 50 percent reduction in crashes after the system is installed.
If the cameras are approved, there would be a 30-day warning period. During that time, violators would receive warning notices in the mail. After that, tickets would be mailed to speeders.
Lasercraft presented a $4,695 per month fee for installing, maintaining and operating the program. The company would mail citations and collect the fines.
Information was also provided on how much money this brings in for other towns in Georgia. In Alpharetta, $1.1 million in fines was paid in 2005 for tickets issued by the company.
A study was conducted of the traffic volume, accident rates and violations at all of the traffic lights in town. The traffic lights at I-85 had the most accidents and speeders.
At a meeting Monday night, Wirthman said the cameras would reduce the number of accidents.
“This is mainly a public safety issue,” he said.
But one councilman wasn’t so sure.
“Many studies have shown those cause accidents instead of prevent them,” said councilman Roy Plott.
An official with Lasercraft, a company that offers the cameras, said they have seen a 50 percent reduction in crashes after the system is installed.
If the cameras are approved, there would be a 30-day warning period. During that time, violators would receive warning notices in the mail. After that, tickets would be mailed to speeders.
Lasercraft presented a $4,695 per month fee for installing, maintaining and operating the program. The company would mail citations and collect the fines.
Information was also provided on how much money this brings in for other towns in Georgia. In Alpharetta, $1.1 million in fines was paid in 2005 for tickets issued by the company.
Let’s get to the real issues: money and facts.
Total cost per year, based in the article, is over $56,000. Is this per intersection or for the whole city? Nowhere in the article does it say how many intersections will have this installed and how much per intersection this will cost. Is this $4,695 a month per intersection or for the entire city? Hey Mike….how about giving us the REAL story with the true numbers so we can make an intelligent decision. You are so quick to slam the police that protect you but forget to publish all the facts.
For the sake of easy math, some people are a bit challenged in this town, if this $56,340 ($4,695X12) per year covers 10 intersections, it will cost $5,634 a year per intersection, which can be recouped by tickets since most people have not idea what a speed limit sign is let alone a stoplight or sign. If this number of $4,695 per month is per intersection and then you have 10 intersections, then that is over a half a million dollars!! In addition, how can you compare Jefferson to Alpharetta? Have you been there? There are more intersections on one street then there are in the entire city of Jefferson. Any extra revenue from this program must go back into the JPD budget to purchase new equipment and get the police trained. This must be a program that pays for itself and not be another Jefferson blunder such as the great Jefferson Radio Station.
Wirthman, if the money it generates is put to good use, whatever....but don't insult our intelligence by claiming your concern is for our safety. 'Cause that's just straight up BS.
What has the housing market taking a hit have to do with less minorities traveling through town? Please try to make sense....if that is possible.
Why dont you point that anger where it should be pointed, at the GA D.O.T. they were the ones who dragged their feet and at first refused to allow a light at the Kroger intersection. It took the citizens and other people in the county to "raise hell" including geting state and federal level elected officials involved to get that light.
any police department's concern is for safety it is the elected officials that are concerned with the financial part of issues.
P.S. ALL fines that are collected from tickets issued by police departments goes to the city or county GENERAL FUND. Those fines help keep our taxes lower by providing funding to the city or county.
simple thought:
Tickets = lower property taxes.
no tickets = higher property taxes
And then you confirmed my opinion by repeating what I said, it's all about the money. So, I'm sorry, I don't understand the reason for your post which is directed to me.
But that's okay, I often don't have a point either.
the anger i'm talking about is "I'm sorry, but any body who falls for that "it's about public safety" CRAP is a fool" Sounds like a little anger to me but that point really is irrelivent.
As for using the Kroger traffic light as an example, that is foolish. EVERYONE in the city and county fought for the Light. again I will say it was GA. D.O.T. that was the problem NOT the Police or the city Council.
you said "Wirthman, if the money it generates is put to good use, whatever". You assume that the police Chief has ANY say in where the money goes. For the police department is about stopping (or minimizing) the traffic accidents that happen around the I85 exchange(at last count I believe the number was around 67 this year alone). For the city council it is about safety and a side effect is fines.
Oh and you dont need to question my intelligence I really am a pretty smart person
plan was that they would be paid for by the revenue
generated from the people who ran the lights. The problen
was that people stopped running those lights, and now the
city is stuck with a huge bill that it doesn't have in the
budget to pay for.
this article DID NOT mention that as the offense that would be ticketed...rather it would catch the speeders. i am familiar with cameras to catch those running red lights, but speeders? where does it stop? will they also send me a ticket for not using my blinker to change lanes at 1 AM when no one else is on the road?
Are you a student of politics at all? You think Wirthman does NOT have a say in where our money goes? I'll keep my sarcastic remark about that to myself.
And here's a tip....if you want to come off as "smart", learn to spell irrelevant.
just because I can't spell well doesn't make me any less smart.
as for where the money from traffic tickets goes, are you ready........ALL money from citations that stays in the city goes to the city GENERAL FUND. This is controlled by who?The city council.
They decide where and when money gets spent. the heads of departments in any city submit a budget then when it is approved they spend it on what it was budgeted for. the Chief just like any other department head can request extra money from the general fund, but, the city council decides.
So the only money he decieds about is HIS budget and that has to be approved by the city council.
…Is this where we're headed?
That accusation, sir, is one of the most off-base, ignorant uninformed things I think you could ever say about Jefferson.
Google "Fulton County, gerrymandering" and take a look at how the county lines were once drawn. THAT, sir, is what gerrymandering looks like.
I found some of your statements about the red-light cameras to be interesting and, perhaps, informative (had they been cited). Furthermore, nobody minds a good rant- it's healthy.
However, the next time you want to rant please be certain you're fully aware of all of the definitions of the accusations you toss at your local government. The City limits look the way they do because Jefferson has proactively attempted to supplement it's once-largely residential tax base with a healthy dose of industrial and commercial revenue- thereby, once the tax shelters expire, relieving the "little man".
In short, the rant was entertaining and sincere. Try to bang those out at least once a week- but go easy on George Orwell- he's not exactly the most reputable man to ever walk the earth.
1 more thing...for the guy that thinks the city limits were "stretced" for extra revenue from traffic tickets @ the interstate, you really are the worst of all! If Bird Bruce hadn't put the effort into expanding the city limits, your taxes would be double right now. THat is about the only place in the city limits that generates any kind of real tax base right now.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
For the guy who wants the facts cited, gee, what else can I do for you? Go do your own research, that's what I did. Google some of the phrases I used and you will find all I said & more. The facts are not that hard to find, perhaps actually looking for facts contradictory to your opinion & not waiting to be spoon fed would serve you well.
Finally, I don't know or care about George Orwell's personal life. It as nothing to do with, well, anything related to this discussion. I was quoting a book that he wrote. Most famous people have dirty laundry- just like the rest of us, only the fact that they are famous makes it public knowledge. Dig deep enough and you could say the same about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or any number of biblical figures. So exactly what was your point here?
For urineformed & 'perhaps you should', this is intended as a joke so please don't waste any time explaining how hard it would be to get the state to approve it.
How absurd can these peole be ,,,,once done ,,, never to be undone,,,,,,sort of ...like former president Bush taking some of our rights in the mane of ''being safe''
At least the Gestapo isn't pulling you over.
This is about money and a new way to collect taxes.