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By Mike Frassinelli and Ryan Hutchins/The Star-Ledger

New Jersey has suspended its controversial red-light camera program over questions about the accuracy of the devices that have frustrated motorists while generating millions of dollars for towns.

Officials from the state Department of Transportation said 63 of the 85 red-light cameras in New Jersey — including all 19 in Newark — have not been tested to ensure yellow lights were timed in accordance with the statute that created the pilot program.

Beginning Wednesday, tickets will not be issued at those 63 locations until it is determined whether the traffic systems are in compliance with the law.

In the meantime, the cameras will remain on. If the devices are found to be in compliance, violators would still be fined. If the traffic systems are not in compliance, DOT spokesman Joe Dee said, "we will shut down that camera."

The other 22 cameras — including a dozen in Jersey City — are working properly and are not affected.

The suspension was first reported Tuesday on NJ.com, the online home of The Star-Ledger.



Under national standards, yellow lights are expected to stay lit one second for every 10 mph — or 3.5 seconds in the case of an intersection where the speed limit is 35 mph.

But the statute that created New Jersey’s red-light camera program also calls for towns to study the speed at which vehicles approach the intersection before determining how long the yellow lights stay lit, taking into account the speed at which 85 percent of drivers travel through the intersection.

For 63 of the 85 cameras in 21 towns, those speeds had not been determined before the towns received approval to install the red-light cameras, according to the DOT.

Janice Bollmann, a Hunterdon County resident who fought a ticket she received at a red light in Edison on Nov. 25, won her case in April after township officials admitted they did not calibrate the cameras for the 85th percentile of traffic.

She said she was flagged for getting through the intersection .21 of a second too late.

"It was so unfair to the people getting tickets," said Bollmann, who lives in Tewksbury. "The timing of the light was incorrect. When I went to court, I saw these people facing $85 fees — $140 in a safe zone. That might be a week’s groceries and they were only late through the lights by hundredths of a second."

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon Jr. (R-Monmouth) said many motorists might have been wrongly fined because the yellow lights were incorrectly timed.

"It’s a good victory for the motorists of New Jersey," said O’Scanlon, who praised state transportation officials for quickly responding to new questions over the accuracy of the traffic systems.

O’Scanlon said that regardless of what people think of the red-light cameras, "everybody should be able to agree that we don’t want to punish innocent people."

Added Steve Carrellas, New Jersey representative of the National Motorists Association driving rights group: "I’m very impressed with the DOT’s action. Our goal was to make sure the law was followed, because it was the one key protection for the motorist against the predatory nature of the red-light camera."

Towns where the red-light cameras will remain in limbo are: Newark, Linden, Wayne, Palisades Park, Union Township and Springfield in Union County, Roselle Park, Rahway, Englewood Cliffs, Pohatcong, Piscataway, Edison, East Windsor, Lawrence, Cherry Hill, Stratford, Monroe, Brick, Glassboro, Jersey City (one camera of 13) and Woodbridge (one camera of four).

The 22 cameras that are in compliance include 12 in Jersey City (all but the one at the intersection of John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Communipaw Avenue), three in Woodbridge (all but the one at Route 1 and Avenel Street), four in Gloucester and one each in East Brunswick, New Brunswick and Deptford.

RED-LIGHT CAMERAS

What's happening?

The state has suspended the issuance of tickets at 63 of 85 intersections that are part of the red-light camera program.

Why?

Transportation officials are concerned yellow lights may not be timed in accordance with the state law that created the program. In some instances, yellow light times may have been determined based on a road's speed limit and not the speed of traffic on the road, as the statute requires.

What's next?

Local traffic engineers will examine the lights and submit their findings to the state. Those intersections found to be in compliance will be reinstated, while lights that are not timed correctly will be eliminated from the program.

What if I paid a ticket received at an intersection that wasn't in compliance?

Drivers in that situation could file a petition for post-conviction relief, asking a judge to reconsider the case. It's also possible that class-action litigation could be filed on behalf of drivers.

How much money have towns made from the program?

That's not immediately clear because the state's Administrative Office of the Courts does not differentiate between red-light tickets issued by police officers and cameras. The transportation department also didn't have those figures immediately available. But we know towns and cities have taken in millions — possibly tens of millions — of dollars since the cameras first launched in 2009. In Newark, for example, 93,635 tickets were issued in 2010 and the city collected more than $3 million from fines. Even more violations, about 95,000, were mailed in 2011.

Sources: NJ Department of Transportation, Administrative Office of the Courts, City of Newark, attorney Jeffrey Gold

Newark officials insist all yellow lights in the city have the correct timing — exactly what’s required by law. The issue, they say, is over the words used on certifications sent to the state, starting in 2008, when the city joined the program as its first participant.

"Four years later, the DOT comes back to us and says the language wasn’t right," said Jack Nata, the manager of Newark’s Traffic and Signals division.

The city, he said, has maintained yellow-light timing based on the speed of traffic through those intersections, performing speed surveys every six months.

Newark officials got word of the plan to suspend some cameras several weeks ago, and it has performed new speed surveys in recent days.

"If the DOT says otherwise, then we’ll comply with what their findings are," Nata said. "But we’re very, very sure our amber certifications will be accepted."

The program has been a cash cow for Newark, which received more than $3 million in 2010 alone.

Linden Mayor Richard Gerbounka said his city has complied with the standards state transportation officials required.

"My understanding was they gave us the amount of time the light should be yellow based on the speed limit of the street that the light is on," Gerbounka said. "If there is some kind of concern, the state better get the timing right or confirm that it is right. It minimizes the credibility of the red-light cameras."

If the state finds some yellow lights have not been operating properly, drivers who have paid violations could file petitions for post-conviction relief, said Jeffrey Gold, chair of the state Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

In that case, the court would reconsider the case, given the information.

But evidence that some intersections in the program were not in compliance with the law could also result in broader legal action.

"There’s no points, so the only real penalty is the money," said Gold, considered the dean of municipal attorneys. "So, yeah, you could have a class action joining all these people together."

Related coverage:

• Assemblyman probes usefulness of red-light traffic cameras following YouTube video

• N.J. intersection crashes are posted on YouTube by red-light camera system provider (with video)

• Red-light cameras put profit over safety, consumer advocacy group says

• N.J. wants to double the number of towns with red-light cameras by 2013

