State Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), who has recently expressed concern regarding New Jersey’s red light camera pilot program, last week raised concerns about contracts that have been entered into by municipalities that are operating red light cameras.
The cameras are in place at 63 intersections around the state and tickets are issued by police after the camera photographs a vehicle going through a red light.
The red light camera pilot program is set to expire on Dec. 16, 2014, but according to O’Scanlon’s research, many of the municipal contracts for the cameras extend beyond that date.
“Through the Open Public Records Act, my office has obtained the red light camera contracts for all of the participating municipalities,” O’Scanlon said. “I was very disappointed to see that 11 of the 24 contracts extend beyond the close of the pilot program. The municipal officials in these municipalities are quick to hold motorists to the strict letter of the law, yet many of them seem to be ignoring the pilot program statute.”
A bill that was signed into law on Jan. 13, 2008, required the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a five-year pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the installation and utilization of traffic control signal monitoring systems in New Jersey. The pilot program officially began on Dec. 16, 2009, according to O’Scanlon.
“Upon expiration of the program, all ticketing as a result of the cameras must cease,” the assemblyman said. “These towns knew the program terminates in 2014, so why did they contract beyond that? Why did the camera companies – who should know these statutes inside and out – enter into contracts that do not acknowledge the firm end date of the program? Is this a pre-emptive, back door way to ultimately push for the program to be extended?
“And we are not just talking a couple of days here, many of these contracts extend months beyond the pilot program’s deadline; one town’s contract goes into 2016,” O’Scanlon said. “I have spoken with the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services and they have issued me an opinion that clearly lays out the termination date of the program and the mandate that ticketing cease upon that date. Additionally, the first annual report on the program clearly acknowledges the end date and we have confirmation of that directly from DOT.” “I will be sending this memo to all towns participating in the pilot program,” O’Scanlon said. “There is no wiggle room in the length of this program which has been fraught with issues from the start – and the bane of motorists across New Jersey. Ticketing will stop on Dec. 16, 2014.”
A town which continues to issue red light camera tickets past the termination date will be in violation of the law and I will be watching closely to ensure that not a single ticket is wrongfully issued. We must treat our drivers fairly,” he said.
In the Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex county region, the following municipalities are operating red light cameras: East Brunswick (one intersection), Edison (three intersections), New Brunswick (one intersection), Piscataway (six intersections), Woodbridge (four intersections), and Brick Township (three intersections).