GET READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UPS RED-LIGHT CAMERAS TO BE INSTALLED AT 2 INTERSECTIONS.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Cameras to photograph motorists running red lights start up Friday at two Lancaster intersections.

For the first 30 days motorists will get warnings in the mail rather than tickets if the cameras photograph their cars entering intersections after the light has changed to red, city officials said.

``Our goal is to teach drivers to obey the law; not to give tickets. If everyone obeys the traffic signals, nobody will get a ticket,'' Mayor Henry Hearns said in the city's announcement of the cameras' activation.

Lancaster's first red-light cameras will operate at Avenue J and 15th Street West and at Avenue K and 10th Street West, which a survey earlier this year indicated were the intersections with the most red light violations, officials said.

Surveys are under way at the intersection of Avenue K and 30th Street West to determine if it warrants red-light cameras, associate traffic engineer Michelle Cantrell said.

The cameras will photograph vehicles that run red lights for eastbound Avenue K at 10th Street West, and for both west- and eastbound Avenue J at 15th Street West, Cantrell said.

If a car is photographed running a red light, photos of the driver and the license plate and two photos showing the car in the intersection while the light is red will be mailed to the registered owner, along with information on the time, date and location.

After the 30-day grace period, the registered owner will get a citation as well.

If the driver was someone other than the registered owner, the owner can fill out a form identifying the driver and mail it back, Cantrell said.

The photos will be processed by Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., an Arizona company that also operates red-light cameras in Santa Clarita and other cities in six states. Before a citation is mailed, sheriff's officials will review the photographs to check that the vehicle actually ran the red light, Cantrell said,

The ticket for running a red light brings a $351 fine, of which the city receives about $150. City officials expect about 450 motorists will get tickets -- which arrive in the mail -- translating to about $67,500 a month in revenue for the city.

Under state law, the city must provide 30 days' public notice prior to the start of the operation of the cameras. For the first 30 days of operation, only warning citations can be issued.

Mounted two to each leg of an intersection, the cameras will be triggered by inductive loops, electrical wires buried beneath the asphalt. The loops detect cars about to enter the intersection after the light has turned red and trigger the cameras.

In Santa Clarita, red-light cameras were installed in July 2004 at five intersections. In the first year that tickets were given, more than 5,800 drivers were cited, while injury crashes declined 20 percent at those intersections, city and sheriff's officials said. No motorists beat the tickets in court, officials said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

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(1 -- color) A red-light camera monitors the intersection of Avenue J and 15th Street West in Lancaster.

(2) This red-light camera at Avenue J and 15th Street West and one at Avenue K and 10th Street West are the first red-light cameras in Lancaster. Drivers snapped running red lights will receive warnings for the first 30 days. After that, the citation comes with a $351 fine.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

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