ASSEMBLY GIVES RED LIGHT ON CAMERAS.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Uh-oh, that light's going to change. I can just zip through. Oops, is that a camera? Click

Uh-oh.

A half-dozen California cities, including Los Angeles, want to nab such ubiquitous red-light runners by installing cameras at troublesome intersections and sending tickets in the mail.

But the experimental program could soon end. The state Assembly on Thursday rejected a bill to extend the program, scheduled to expire Jan. 1.

Opponents, likening the cameras to mechanical spies of Big Brother or the Third Reich, said they are just a way for greedy cities to raise money.

Backers of the bill, saying red-light runners kill and injure hundreds of people each year, called themselves astonished that there are people defending motorists who break the law.

The bill, already approved by the state Senate, is tabled for another vote in the Assembly as early as Monday, said Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills.

A second defeat would stop municipalities from operating or installing the cameras, he said.

That would put the brakes on plans by Los Angeles officials to start using the cameras this summer in eight intersections across the city, including two in the San Fernando Valley, said Sgt. Bob Rieboldt in the Traffic Coordination Section of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has spent two years readying plans for the cameras, which would be provided by the manufacturers in exchange for a portion of the revenue from the tickets, Rieboldt said.

A 1995 law allows cities to test the use of cameras mounted at intersections until 1999. The cameras are set to go off if a car is in the intersection a certain number of seconds after the light turns red. It photographs the car, its license and the driver's face. The city then sends a ticket to the registered owner.

The law requires cities to announce the system to the public a month before using it and to place signs either at the intersections or at city limits notifying motorists of the cameras' presence.

During the first six months cameras were mounted at four San Francisco intersections, there was a 42 percent drop in the number of drivers who ran red lights there. San Francisco officials hope to increase the number of camera-monitored intersections to 24.

Other cities that have been testing the program are Santa Rosa, Oxnard, Beverly Hills, El Cajon and Poway. Several other cities are planning to try it next year, if the law is extended.

The bill by Sen. Quentin Kopp, I-Daly City, was approved 26-10 by the Senate. It got a 37-30 vote in the Assembly, four short of a majority in the 80-seat Assembly. Supporters said they would try again at a future session.