RED-LIGHT TICKETS GET GREEN LIGHT INTERSECTION GRACE PERIOD NOW OVER.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Tickets will start being issued today from red-light cameras at two Lancaster intersections, after the end of a 30-day grace period during which only warnings went out.

Over the past 30 days, 322 vehicles were photographed running red lights at Avenue K and 10th Street West and at Avenue J and 15th Street West, but their owners received warnings in the mail rather than tickets.

With the warning period over, motorists blowing through red lights will get tickets, each with a $361 fine.

``We trust that the grace period has reminded drivers that running red lights is serious and that they have adjusted their driving accordingly,'' Mayor Henry Hearns said. ``If everyone obeys the traffic signals, nobody gets a ticket.''

Lancaster's first red-light cameras 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.

A survey earlier this year indicated that these were the intersections with the most red-light violations, officials said.

Red-light cameras will also be installed at the intersection of Avenue K and 30th Street West, city officials 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.

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

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, city officials said.

The ticket for running a red light brings a $361 fine, of which the city receives about $150. City officials expect about 450 motorists monthly will get tickets -- which will arrive in the mail -- translating to about $67,500 a month in revenue for the city.

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.

james.skeen@dailynews

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