By Mike Brassfield, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, December 2, 2010
CLEARWATER — The Clearwater City Council voted 3-2 Thursday night to bring red light cameras to some of the city's busiest and most dangerous intersections.
Eight people came to the council's meeting to speak against the cameras, saying they cause accidents and are just a money grab by the city, and complaining about a "1984 Orwellian police state." However, Clearwater's police chief and traffic engineer both said they believe the cameras will reduce the number of accidents.
Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor John Doran and Council member Bill Jonson voted for the cameras, with George Cretekos and Paul Gibson opposing them.
City officials have about 10 dangerous intersections in mind for the cameras, many of them along Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard. However, at Hibbard's suggestion, the city will start with just a couple of intersections and study the data from those locations after six months before deciding whether to continue.
The first Clearwater cameras will likely be installed early next year. A 2009 state law allows cities to install cameras at intersections and charges a $158 fine to the registered owner of the vehicle caught on camera running a red light.
"I think there are literally hundreds of thousands of things on the Internet you can read about this," Doran said. "I've read both sides. I'm convinced we're better off as a society, as a community, to use photo-enhanced traffic enforcement to educate people about the wisdom of slowing down when you see a yellow light instead of speeding up."
Mike Brassfield can be reached at brassfield@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4160.