The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Big Brother not watching at Sunnyvale intersections

Council votes against installing cameras at local traffic signals

By Natasha Collins

Running red lights is a serious problem in Sunnyvale, but the City Council opted not to install cameras at intersections to catch violators.

"It is way too Orwellian for me," Vice Mayor Jim Roberts said at the Sept. 9 council meeting. "We do have a problem with people running lights, but I do not think that cameras are the solution."

In one hour more than 25 violations were given by police at the intersection of Pastoria and El Camino, according to a public safety report.

"That equals at least one violation every time the light cycles through," Roberts said. "More and more people are trying to push through."

The council unanimously voted against the installation of cameras because of numerous problems associated with the system, including cost, maintenance and privacy issues.

take the picture of both the front license plate and the driver of the car when a red light was run. Public safety officers would then look up the registered owner of the car and ask for a copy of the registered owner's drivers license from the DMV. If the registered owner's drivers license picture matched that of the driver in the picture, a ticket would be issued.

"Only 15 percent of the people photographed are expected to receive a ticket," said Don Olsen of the Department of Public Safety. "That would not generate enough revenue to pay for the expected $300,000 a year to pay staff and maintain the system."

Only a small percentage would receive tickets because not all drivers are the registered owners of the car, and not every car has a front license plate.

"It would be much better to catch someone in the act then to give them a ticket several days later," said Bob Schultz, a resident and driving instructor in Sunnyvale. "I feel like I am being set up every time I enter into an intersection. If an officer were seen waiting at the intersection, I don't think people would run the light."

The Department of Public Safety and the Traffic Department are already looking for alternatives to using the cameras. Public Safety hopes to use "rat boxes," or devices that alert officers on the other side of the street when the light has turned red, at several "test" intersections in the next few months. They are called "rat boxes" because the wire that attaches to the signal looks like a rat's tail.

The rat boxes are less expensive than the cameras--about $1,200 to put boxes on each of the lights at a four-way intersection--and make it possible to ticket someone immediately after they have run the light.

Rat boxes also do not invade a driver's privacy like the cameras would, Councilman Landon Noll said.

"I am very offended by the idea of cameras being used to protect the people. You can't say 'Big Brother' big enough," he said. "People expect a certain amount of privacy when they are in their cars, and cameras would take a part of that away. I think officers and the rat boxes are a much better alternative."

The City Council meets every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 17, 1997.
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