The Town of Hilton Head Island has discussed installing the lights, but it shelved the idea until there is a viable way to enforce the law. Cameras have taken pictures of red-light-runners at three Charleston intersections for several years, though the city has no way of issuing enforceable citations.
Last year, state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head, submitted a bill designed to clear the way for local governments to send out citations based on traffic cameras. The bill never made it out of committee, but Richardson said he intends to resubmit it unchanged during the next legislative session.
The state already allows something similar for drivers who don't pay tolls on roads like the Cross Island Parkway.
"Sometimes for the police to catch somebody that's running a red light, they have to be right there," Richardson said. "You take front pictures and back pictures so you can see who the driver is."
The red-light cameras would take a series of pictures showing the license plate, a picture of the whole car and possible other angles that show the driver.
Eleven North Carolina municipalities are claiming success with the cameras, according to AAA Carolinas. Charlotte, for one, claims to have reduced collisions by 60 percent at intersections with red-light cameras. A recent AAA study showed collisions dropping an average of 30 percent at intersections with the cameras.
Chapel Hill, however, discontinued the program in January 2004 after complaints. Statistics showed that violations declined, but poor camera placements made it hard to take clear pictures of license plates during the four months the cameras were in use.
The fine for running a red light in the Palmetto State is $232. North Carolina red-light runners only get a $50 fine.
The main objections to the cameras have been privacy issues and whether the registered owner of the vehicle, to whom a ticket would be mailed, was actually the person who ran the red light, Richardson said. The proposed law would allow the owner to send back an affidavit if they were not the person driving the car.
Richardson said the law is not an invasion of privacy because cameras already take pictures at nearly all ATM machines, banks and convenience stores.
Sheriff P.J. Tanner said he was not familiar with the bill and that Richardson had not discussed it with him. While Tanner said the cameras may be a good deterrent, he had questions about how the enforcement would work. He also wondered whether the evidence would stand up in court.
"There are a lot of citizens in Beaufort County that have made the same suggestion," he said. "I don't want the citi-zens misled to believe that just putting cameras on the intersections will solve the problem.
"Knowing how our system works today, I'm thinking there would be some challenges."