LAWRENCE: Turner bill would ban right turns after stop at camera lights

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Legislation that would ban motorists from making right-hand turns on red at intersections where a red-light camera is in place has been introduced by state Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D-15th Legislative District).
   The bill was introduced in the state Senate Monday, and will be referred to a Senate committee for review. There is a red-light camera in operation in Lawrence Township at the intersection of Route 1 and Bakers Basin Road/Franklin Corner Road.
   The red-light cameras take photographs of cars that do not stop for the red light. Traffic tickets are issued to the owner of the car. The tickets carry a fine, but no points on the driver’s record. Lawrence is participating in a pilot program for red-light cameras.
   Sen. Turner’s bill also calls for installing signage at the affected intersections, and an additional sign indicating that fines are doubled if one of the streets has been designated a “safety corridor.” The segment of Route 1 at Bakers Basin Road/Franklin Corner Road is in the safety corridor.
   Sen. Turner, who lives in Lawrence, said tickets have been issued to motorists who made a right-hand turn on red at intersections where a red-light camera has been installed. Motorists make a full stop at the red light and then turn right, but they are given tickets anyway because the traffic light does not distinguish whether a car has stopped at the red light or passed through it without stopping.
   ”So many of my constituents have been outraged. They believe it is so unfair. They don’t know they have broken the law until they get a ticket in the mail. One woman said she had never gotten a ticket in her life. You go to Municipal Court and they show you the picture (of the violation),” Sen. Turner said.
   To make matters worse, Sen. Turner said, the fine is doubled if the violation occurs on a section of Route 1 that has been designated as a safe corridor. The standard fine is $80, she said, but it is more than doubled to $170 in the “safe corridor” area.
   ”Some people I know have said they are not going that way anymore. Some say they won’t move until the traffic light changes. People in cars behind them blow their horns (to urge the driver to move),” she said of the Route 1/Bakers Basin Road/Franklin Corner Road intersection.
   Sen. Turner said there is no disagreement that safety is paramount. The problem could be solved if a sign is posted at the intersection. It would apply to all intersections that have a red-light camera in place, she said.
   ”The red light camera is a pilot program, (but) more and more towns want to install them. It’s a real cash cow for the municipalities, and they are milking the motorists,” Sen. Turner said.