HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - A state legislator hopes to make it possible for South Carolina law enforcement offices to ticket drivers running red lights using pictures taken from traffic light cameras.

Such cameras have been in use at three Charleston intersections for several years, but the city has no way to mailing out enforceable citations.

State Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head, plans to submit a bill this year designed to clear the way for local governments to send out citations based on traffic cameras.

Richardson submitted the same bill last year, but it never got out of committee.

"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."

Other cities, including 11 in North Carolina, have installed the cameras which are able to take pictures that show license plates, the entire car and in some cases, the driver.

A recent study by AAA Carolinas shows that collisions dropped an average of 30 percent at intersections with the cameras in Charlotte, N.C.

The city of Chapel Hill, N.C., 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.

Critics say the cameras invade privacy and the pictures taken by them don't always show whether the registered owner of the vehicle is the person driving the car.

Richardson said his bill would allow the owner to send back an affidavit if someone else were 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.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said cameras may be a good deterrent, but he wondered whether the evidence would stand up in court.

"There are a lot of citizens in Beaufort County that have made the same suggestion," Tanner said. "I don't want the citizens 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."

The fine for running a red light in South Carolina is $232.

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Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com/