× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A proposal by Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, that would have made it harder for private vendors to install or renew photo equipment designed to monitor right turns on red stalled in a House transportation subcommittee Wednesday.

Making a right turn at a red light is legal, but the vehicle must come to a complete stop.

“There are a couple of companies that have decided that there is some real money to be made by setting up cameras, so when people make a right turn on red and don’t come to a complete stop, they issue thousands and thousands of tickets, charging $50 a ticket,” Morrissey said.

Localities are citing a safety interest in monitoring intersections this way, but Morrissey calls that “absolute rubbish,” saying that although red-light cameras may decrease side-impact collisions by 25 percent, they cause a 15 percent increase in the number of rear-impact crashes, according to a 2011 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Morrissey’s measure would have required a locality to do a study on safety benefits before installing or updating photo equipment.