Next year, drivers who run a red light at Route 18 and Tices Lane may find out later that they didn’t get away with it.
That’s because cameras will soon be in place at the intersection, taking digital pictures of those vehicles that pass through against a red signal. Police will mail the violators a summons along with the photo, and they will then have the option of fighting the ticket in court or paying a fine.
The red light cameras, which use sensors working in conjunction with the traffic signals, are new to New Jersey. In fact, East Brunswick is one of only three towns chosen so far to participate in the state’s Red Light Running Automated Enforcement pilot program. The other municipalities are Brick Township, Ocean County, (cameras at Route 70 and Chambers Bridge Road, and Route 70 and Cedar Bridge Road) and Newark, Essex County (cameras at Broad Street and Raymond Boulevard).
The three towns were selected from a pool of numerous applicants who demonstrated a history of violations at a given location.
In East Brunswick, Route 18 at Tices Lane was an obvious choice, as it is one of the township’s busiest intersections, and has long been prone to traffic accidents and red light violations, despite police efforts to enforce traffic laws there.
“I think anybody who knows that area … knows that intersection has an incredibly high volume [of traffic],” East Brunswick Police Lt. Thomas Crothers said. “The highway has a lot of people cutting through, and it’s a heavy shopping district, plus there is the residential area all around it, and the industrial area up at Edgeboro Road. So, there are a lot of people coming through there.”
Ultimately, Crothers said, the objective is to prevent car accidents, and in particular, those that occur as the result of cars running red lights. In those cases, vehicles are often struck broadside, an impact that tends to cause serious or fatal injuries.
“Red light accidents are potentially the most lethal,” Crothers said.
In seeking the state grant to participate in the pilot program, the township submitted crash, injury and citation data from the past three years at the intersection. Its application focused on Route 18 northbound at Tices Lane, but Crothers said it is possible the camera system will be used to detect red-light violations for all four directions.
At present, the police department is interviewing a pool of about six vendors to determine which will install and monitor the camera equipment, Crothers said. All use equipment to detect vehicles going through a red light, but the technology and “add-ons” vary a bit from case to case, he said. Some have the ability to record video, which could be helpful in the case of accident investigations.
The police expect to select a vendor by January and have the equipment installed soon thereafter. Once in place, the company will monitor and detect violators, and send the images to the police department. The police will then review those submissions to determine whether a red light violation has occurred and whether to issue a citation.
Those who receive a ticket will incur an $85 fine, but not the traffic points usually associated with moving violations. Since police will only capture an image of the vehicle, and not the driver running the red light, Crothers noted the offense is more like a parking ticket. The registered owner of the vehicle will receive the summons, regardless of who the driver was.
Signs will be placed at the intersection to alert drivers that the traffic law is being enforced by photograph, Crothers said.
The pilot program will run for a threeyear trial period in East Brunswick’s case, and the township will have to submit periodic reports to the state, detailing increases or decreases in violations and accidents at the intersection, and evaluating the effectiveness of the system.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed legislation in January to establish the pilot program. State Assemblymen John S. Wisniewski and Joseph Vas (both D-19) and Brian P. Stack (D-33) sponsored the bill.
“The Red Light Running camera program is designed to help New Jersey communities supplement their traditional law enforcement resources,” Corzine said in a statement. “The installation of these cameras will hopefully deter speeders and increase safety for motorists in Brick, East Brunswick and Newark.”
Similar programs have been run in 24 other states.

