Drivers passing through Warrington Township that fail to stop at a red light will now be caught by a state-of-the-art camera system and face a fine, officials recently announced.
Warrington is the first municipality in Bucks County and only the third in Pennsylvania to install the enforcement system designed to make the suburban community safer, the police department said in a statement.
The system, authorities said, will “encourage safer driving habits with a consistent presence to reduce red light violations and improve traffic flow. Best of all, it will help us save lives,” the department said.
Where to place the red-light cameras was based on a PennDOT study that considered the number of violations, accidents (particularly those with injuries) and the difficulty of “traditional enforcement.”
The two township intersections are at Easton Road (Route 611) and Bristol Road; the other at Easton and Street roads.
The camera is only activated when the traffic light is red. It captures two images and a video. The first photo is of the vehicle before it crosses the white stop line while the light is still red. The second image is of the car or truck crossing the white line while the light is still red.
Police officers review the footage and, if the violation is found to be valid, a citation is issued to the registered owner of the vehicle. The citations, officials stressed, are civil violations and don’t impact a driver’s record, insurance rates of commercial driver’s license status.
The cameras have been shown to “substantially reduce violations, decrease the number of crashes and injuries, and improve driver behavior,” Warrington police said.
Studies have also shown that safety was improved at intersections without cameras in communities where they were installed at other locations, said officials.
Warnings will be issued until late March after which violators will be ticketed and fined a civil monetary penalty of $100, according to a statement on Warrington’s Crimewatch page.
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