City officials hope drivers will think twice about blowing through intersections at the last second, now that four of 10 red light cameras are issuing tickets.
By the end of Wednesday, London’s division manager of roadway lighting and traffic control, Shane Maguire, said another three of four cameras may pass the “acceptance testing” that comes after a trial period.
READ MORE: London’s first red light camera begins snapping photos Monday
Over 11 days in June, Maguire said the first camera installed at Springbank Drive and Wonderland Road doled out nine $325 tickets. It’s the only data the city has so far, although cameras have since gone up at the intersections of Dundas and Clarke, Oxford and Wonderland, and Queen’s and Adelaide.
“What we really want to do is get those number of collisions reduced,” explained Maguire.
“By telling everybody where those red light cameras are, if that’s getting people to improve their driving, that’s all the better.”
According to Maguire, the cameras are part of a multi-pronged safety initiative aimed at lowering the number of collisions that happen at London, which includes education, enforcement, and engineering.
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He pegs the program’s annual cost to be $760,000 a year, which he expects to be covered by ticket revenue in the first year. After that, he hopes the number of tickets being issued will go down, consequentially lowering the city’s revenue from the program too.
All ten cameras are expected to be issuing tickets as of the fall; the $325 fine is the same penalty handed out by a police officer, except drivers caught by a camera won’t receive three demerit points.
The following intersections are included in the red light camera program:
- Springbank Drive at Wonderland Road S
- Dundas Street at Clarke Road
- Oxford Street W at Wonderland Road N
- Queens Avenue at Adelaide Street N
- Commissioners Road E at Wellington Road
- Windermere Road at Richmond Street
- Exeter Road at Wharncliffe Road S
- Huron Street at Highbury Avenue N
- Oxford Street E at Adelaide Street N
- Queens Avenue at Talbot Street
The last two at Queens and Talbot and Adelaide and Oxford won’t be live until the fall.
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