LOS ALAMITOS >> During a 10-month period, the traffic light at Katella Avenue and Bloomfield Street in Los Alamitos switched from yellow to red faster than state law allows, likely causing hundreds of camera-generated tickets — about $500 apiece — to be issued incorrectly.

Los Alamitos and Garden Grove are the only cities left in Orange County still using cameras to track drivers as they go through intersections, down from at least nine such cities a few years ago. It’s unclear how, or if, the problem with the light in Los Alamitos might affect the future of camera-issued tickets in the county.

Los Alamitos City Manager Bret Plumlee said Tuesday that about 1,000 tickets were issued at Katella and Bloomfield between Aug. 1, 2015 and June 16. He said the problem with the yellow light was a miscalculation by traffic engineers, and that the problem has been fixed.

The tickets in question could be challenged by drivers who received them, according to the city’s attorney, Cary Reisman.

At least some of those tickets already are being tossed out of court. Last week, 19 cases of red-light camera tickets from the intersection of Katella and Bloomfield were dismissed at the urging of Scott Ball, a Santa Ana lawyer who specializes in contesting such tickets.

Ball has been arguing since March that the light at the busy intersection — which sees nearly 60,000 cars every day — was not in compliance with the law. He said he didn’t win the argument until last week because he was citing incorrect case law.

The problem with the light, according to Ball and city officials, was in the methodology used to set the time for the yellow signal.

Instead of using the speed of westbound traffic — where the camera is pointed — engineers for the city set the time for the yellow based on the average speed of traffic traveling both directions of Katella Avenue. But that methodology doesn’t comply with state regulations.

“Basically, what I pointed out is that for westbound traffic only, it’s a higher average speed,” Ball said. “And based on that higher speed, the yellow light should be about three-tenths of a second longer.”

Though it doesn’t sound like much, Ball said tenths of a second make a big difference. “There have been studies that say if you lengthen that yellow light by half a second the number of tickets given out drops by 75 percent.”

Officials recently lengthened the yellow light from 4.02 seconds to 4.5 seconds, according to Reisman.

Though Reisman didn’t contest the notion that the light was too short, he said many of the violators in the 19 cases dismissed last week would still have been running the red light even if the yellow was set appropriately.

Still, it’s possible all the tickets issued during the period in question might be invalid.

“I imagine they’ll be offering to dismiss those,” Reisman said.

Contentious cameras

Los Alamitos moved to install traffic cameras in 2005, when several cities in the county were doing the same thing.

In addition to the cameras at Katella Avenue and Bloomfield Street, the city has cameras at the larger intersection of Los Alamitos Boulevard and Katella Avenue. There, according to a city website describing the cameras, several crashes have been reported and residents have complained about safety.

At both intersections, separate cameras capture each driver’s face and the back of their vehicle as they pass through a light, giving simultaneous views of any alleged violation. The city pays about $215,000 to run the system.

Though the city collects only a fraction of the fines, and city officials contend the cameras are set as safety measures, Los Alamitos collects enough to pay for the system and some “core” police services, according to Plumlee.

Red-light cameras, which are operated by Redflex Traffic Systems, have been met with public backlash. Several cities, including Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Laguna Woods, have eliminated cameras after residents complained that the cameras were too ‘Big Brother,’ too expensive to maintain, or even encouraged accidents when drivers abruptly stopped to avoid running a red light.

Plumlee and others say the cameras help reduce specific traffic violations that make some intersections unsafe. He pointed to a 38 percent decrease in crashes at the intersections with cameras in his city.

“The majority of the serious collisions occur at intersections where two vehicles collide at perpendicular positions, when one vehicle fails to yield the right of way to another … or fails to stop,” Plumlee said.

Shelley Hasselbrink, a councilwoman in Los Alamitos, said traffic cameras are particularly important at intersections where students are likely to be drivers. A school, park and medical center are all near Katella Avenue and Bloomfield Street.

Hasselbrink doesn’t see the city expanding the number of cameras, but maintains that the cameras now in place make the streets safer.

Plumlee said the contract with the company that runs the cameras recently was renewed and there are no plans to end the program.

Skeptical drivers

Some drivers view the cameras as ‘traps,’ saying cities are motivated more by profit than by safety.

In March, Jarrod Davis was issued a ticket after a camera caught him running the red light at Katella Avenue and Bloomfield Street. His was one of the 19 violations dismissed last month.

Davis said he was surprised when he initially received the ticket by mail — a photo showing him driving through the light and a letter seeking confirmation that he was at the wheel.

Davis said, yes, he was the driver. But he also balked at a fine he viewed as excessive.

“They’re making just so much money on this thing,” Davis said. “I can understand if it’s a couple hundred bucks. But near $600? That’s just abusive.”

California hands out harsher penalties than most states for red light violations — from $490 to $554 when including traffic school fees — and considers the ticket to be a moving violation. In other states, a red light fine can run from $75 to $100 and is deemed a citation tied to the car, similar to a parking ticket.

Davis said being in a red light sometimes is unavoidable.

“These intersections are so jam packed with cars,” he said. “It’s rush hour, people are going slow and they get backed up.”

He wishes cities would just get rid of the cameras.

Another driver said he doesn’t have a problem with the cameras as long as they function as intended.

Pierre Crosetto of Downey was issued a ticket after traveling through Katella and Bloomfield during a night in January.

“It turns out it was a very quick yellow light,” he said. “When I went through it was already red.”

Then the camera lights flashed around him.

“It was dark, and when you go through (the intersection), the whole world lights up.”

Crosetto said he doesn’t pass the intersection often so he will just be careful in the future. But for regulars, like Davis, the camera has changed his route.

“I try to avoid the intersection as much as I can.”

Staff writer Lauren Williams contributed to this report.