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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
A simple device which lets police in all directions know when a traffic light has turned red will make prosecution of stoplight violators easier.
Low-cost solution to a high-risk problem
City will install 'rat-boxes' to nab stoplight-runners
By Sam Scott
Dangerously hurried person beware. Running stoplights within the Sunnyvale city limits just got a little riskier.
Using $20,000 of state funds, the traffic department has installed 288 new devices at 36 of the city's busiest intersections. The stoplight detectors, nicknamed "rat boxes," should increase the number of people who receive the $271 fine for running a red light. Tickets will be hand-delivered by Kawasaki-riding Sunnyvale traffic cops.
"There will be an increase in red-light enforcement," confirms officer David Longanecker. "I know as a line officer, if I have that tool available, I certainly plan on making use of it."
Hard statistics on accidents caused by drivers who run red lights are unavailable. But Longanecker says that when police look at intersections with high accident rates, they assume these drivers are part of the problem.
Nabbing a "red-light runner" has traditionally been a difficult task. An officer must clearly see the light turn red, see the first line of the crosswalk, and see that the car is behind that line at the moment the light turns red. The best perspective for gathering these three pieces of information is a dangerous one for pulling over the driver and giving a citation.
"To see all that, the officer has to be on the same side of the intersection as the red-light runner, then the officer has to run the red light after them," Captain Chuck Eaneff says.
Officer Longanecker says an officer following a red-light runner through an intersection must drive into dangerous cross traffic. If the officer flips on the light and siren, crossing drivers may panic, causing accidents, he says. If the cop waits on the far side of the intersection, it is impossible to know exactly when the light turned red. Did the car run a red light or just a very yellow one?
The rat boxes--so called because they "rat" on offenders--allow cops to answer this question from the far side of the intersection. The box features a small light-emitting diode that faces opposite the traffic light; the LED illuminates when the traffic light cycles to red. Officers can position for stake-out in a place where they can see the limit line and the rat box simultaneously, obtaining enough information to make a stop without having to run the light.
"Now they're on the right side of the intersection to administer a warning or a citation," Eaneff says.
According to Jack Witthaus of the city's traffic department, "It is a simple and elegant way to improve red-light enforcement. It's an alternative to cameras."
The city hopes the red-light detectors will reduce collisions at intersections.
"Ultimately, achieving our goal is reducing accidents. That's what this is all about," Longanecker says.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
