ANN ARBOR, MI – In hopes of making Ann Arbor intersections safer for all users, a city official suggests adding red light cameras.

But that requires a change in state law.

“I’d like to advocate for a law to allow enforcement cameras at our red lights. Right now we cannot have enforcement cameras in Michigan,” Council Member Kathy Griswold, D-2nd Ward, said during a pedestrian safety forum at city hall Monday night, July 29.

While some states allow automated enforcement of speeding and red light violations using cameras owned by private companies, automated enforcement cameras can’t be used in Michigan, according to Michigan State Police. A citation can be issued only if an officer observes a violation, investigates a crash or receives authorization from a prosecutor for a citizen complaint, according to MSP.

Dozens of residents packed into city hall Monday night for a wide-ranging discussion about pedestrian safety issues. Residents urged city officials to consider measures such as speed-limit reductions and “road diets” to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

In addition to better infrastructure and street lighting, Griswold, who organized the meeting, said she wants more focus on police enforcement of speed limits and advocating at the state level for more flexibility when it comes to setting local speed limits.

But she doesn’t think the city can afford the enforcement that’s needed to significantly reduce crashes with just police officers, she said, arguing for a change in state law to allow red light cameras.

“It’s not only pedestrian crashes, but you also have vehicle-to-vehicle crashes,” Griswold said of the dangers of running red lights.

According to data presented by John Mirsky, the city’s sustainability advisor, among 563 pedestrian-involved traffic crashes in Ann Arbor from 2008 through 2018, there were 22 — about 4% — in which a driver ran a red light, and three were fatal or incapacitating.

The 563 total included in Mirsky’s presentation differs from the 604 shown on MichiganTrafficCrashFacts.org for the same timeframe because it excludes crashes on freeways, Mirsky said.

Ann Arbor resident Jim Walker of the National Motorists Association said he’s staunchly opposed to red light cameras.

He recalled the opposition from groups such as the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as his group, when there was consideration of a proposed change in state law to allow the cameras in 2013.

“They’re just a bad idea because they’re run by for-profit companies and they’re set up so that they will for sure make profits,” Walker said, calling it a “complete and total scam.”

Yellow light intervals are too short, so a lot of drivers end up getting “split-second violations” when there are red light cameras, he said, arguing there’s usually no serious safety risk if a driver runs a light within a second or two of it turning red.

Drivers making slow-rolling right turns on red also end up unnecessarily getting tickets when there are cameras, Walker said, arguing such maneuvers are not endangering anybody.

State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said he hasn’t heard any recent talks at the state level about allowing red light cameras, though he notes there’s been debate about Detroit’s use of surveillance cameras with facial-recognition technology.

“We’ve had a couple hearings on this and it’s an interesting issue because it splits people along lines that are not necessarily partisan,” he said, noting there are legislators on both sides of the aisle who feel it’s not how law enforcement should work.

There are related concerns about red light cameras, Irwin said, noting cameras don’t have a lot of discretion, whereas police officers do.

While he supports making intersections safer, he said, he’s concerned automatic camera enforcement could hurt lower-income people who are just trying to get to work and end up caught up in the court system for traffic violations. If they can’t pay the fines, it can lead to driving restrictions, which can create more problems, he said.

Maybe not every traffic violation needs a citation, he said, noting officers can consider the circumstances and give warnings.