New Haven alder pushing for red-light camera program

The intersection of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Legion Avenue in New Haven. The intersection of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Legion Avenue in New Haven. Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close New Haven alder pushing for red-light camera program 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — Three times this month you might have seen Alder Abby Roth standing downtown at a notoriously busy intersection studying the traffic.

Passionate about getting state lawmakers to approve red-light camera legislation — possibly as a pilot program in New Haven — she went to the corner of South Frontage Road and York Street and counted how many cars blew through the red light.

From 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on three separate days, 156 drivers failed to stop when the light turned red, as drivers during the morning commute jockey to get on Interstates 91 and 95 or head to the heart of downtown.

“That’s unacceptable,” Roth told residents at the East Rock Community Management Team meeting this week where she spoke.

Others agreed with her, although some, who have followed the issue for years, were cynical that the legislation will ever move forward.

The alder, who represents downtown, was joined at the intersection a week later by Vincent Petrini, a vice president for communication at Yale New Haven Hospital; Lauren Zucker, the spokeswoman for Yale University; and Kirsten Bechtel, who is part of emergency services at the hospital.

“We have ongoing concerns about the safety of our employees and patients,” Petrini said of the intersection, where two women have been killed in nine years.

Melissa Tancredi of Waterbury was killed on Jan. 17, 2017, when a car jumped the curb and hit her as she stood on the sidewalk. In 2008, Mila Rainoff, a medical student, died fom injuries when she was hit by a car as she crossed the intersection.

Rainoff’s death lead to a traffic calming and safe streets movement in New Haven.

Earlier attempts to get the legislation adopted in Connecticut generated opposition from a disparate group.

It included the trucking industry; the ACLU, which has privacy concerns; Republican lawmakers who see it as a money grab by the city; and the Black and Hispanic Caucus, which worried that minorities would be targeted, according to Kevin McCarthy, who was staff to the legislature’s Traffic Committee for a time.

Roth said she doesn’t understand the privacy issue. “For people who have privacy concerns, you are on a public road and you go through a red light. I don’t see where your privacy concern is,” she said at the meeting.

Those interested in the issue are just starting to get organized.

Roth said it is not about collecting fines. “It is a safety issue,” she said.

A research report done for the legislature in October 2017 said the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as of last year, determined that 140 communities in 23 states had red-light camera programs.

In 2010, the Texas Transportation Institute reviewed a number of studies on the effectiveness of red-light cameras. It found that generally, the red-light cameras “substantially reduce red light violation rates and crashes resulting from running red lights, but might increase rear-end collisions.”

“Overall, the studies found, the use of red light cameras usually reduces crash severity by reducing more severe right angle crashes, while sometimes increasing less severe rear-end collisions,” it reported.

Paul Frisman, who wrote the legislative report, said from 2010 to 2017, ten bills on automated traffic enforcement were introduced over eight legislative sessions. The most recent was in 2016.

Of these, only two, SB706 in 2011 and HB 5458 in 2012, were reported favorable out of committee.

SB 706, which would have allowed municipalities with more than 60,000 people to use red-light cameras, died in the Judiciary Committee. The House bill, which would have created a six-year window for municipalities with at least 48,000 people to use red-light cameras, died in the House.

“Maybe the third time will be the charm,” Roth said.

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