INTERSECTION CAMERAS CLEAR ASSEMBLY; CITY SEEKS TO TARGET RED-LIGHT RUNNERS AT 8 LOCATIONS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

The state Assembly removed the last obstacle Monday to the widespread use of automated cameras at intersections to nab red-light runners.

Los Angeles police and transportation officials have been awaiting the outcome of the bill before going ahead with plans to install cameras in eight intersections across the city, including two in the San Fernando Valley.

The exact locations have not been decided, but they hope to have the cameras installed by late summer.

On a vote of 49-25, legislators lifted the Dec. 31 expiration date for the law that allows such automated ticketing.

``It's a proven method of reducing deaths and maimings at red-light intersections,'' said the bill's author, Sen. Quentin Kopp, I-Daly City.

Kopp's bill would set up cameras to take photographs of cars traveling at least 15 mph that enter an intersection after the light has turned red.

Violators would receive the citation in the mail within 15 days of the violation, and the photographs would remain confidential.

The citation also would include detailed information on how to challenge the fine.

Some lawmakers rallied Monday against the bill, characterizing it as an Orwellian invasion of privacy and a scheme to slap citizens with $270 tickets for split-second misjudgments.

``This is a huge cash machine for governments and the corporations who manufacture these devices, who get a cut of every ticket written,'' said Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills.

The Assembly voted down Senate Bill 1136 in April but gave it a second chance.

The bill, approved by the Senate in January, now awaits Gov. Pete Wilson's signature or veto. A Wilson spokesman said the governor was inclined to sign the bill because it would protect public safety.

Kopp said he also expects Wilson to approve the bill, just as he had done in 1995 when it was first proposed as a three-year experimental program.

Beverly Hills, Oxnard and four other California cities are already using these cameras, but other municipalities including Los Angeles put their plans on hold after the Assembly voted down the bill last month.

Had the bill been defeated Monday, cities statewide would have been prohibited from using cameras to ticket red-light runners after Dec. 31.

McClintock said he fears motorists could get these tickets by simply driving a few inches over the line.

But Kopp asserted that the law would protect the rights of motorists, including a person's right to review the picture - a frontal picture of the car, its license and the front-seat occupants - and a requirement that cities post notices that these cameras are in use.

As an additional precaution, Kopp said he would support other lawmakers' calls for legislation requiring public hearings before the installation of these cameras and for a law stating the cameras cannot be used with radar to nab speeders as well.

Local Assembly members voting for the bill were Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City; Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys; Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles; Scott Wildman, D-Glendale; Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino; and George Runner, R-Lancaster.

Of local Assembly members, only McClintock voted against it.