Lower Merion, Pennsylvania’s first automated red-light enforcement site generated hundreds of citations in a short period of time.<\/p>\n
At the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Remington Road, the system resulted in 663 citations.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>, the cameras were activated May 13, and after 60 days of warnings, $100 tickets started going out.<\/p>\n Before a citation is mailed, the system records photo and video of vehicles suspected of entering the intersection after the signal turns red, and the Lower Merion Police Department reviews each case.<\/p>\n That review must happen before a ticket goes out. Anyone who receives a citation can contest it at an in-person municipal hearing.<\/p>\n Township officials selected Lancaster Avenue and Remington Road for the first installation, and they are weighing additional busy intersections as possible future sites.<\/p>\n There were nearly 3,800 crashes in Lower Merion from 2019 to 2023, according to the Inquirer.<\/p>\n More background<\/p>\n The Inquirer reported that Lower Merion wants to add cameras at more locations. If three intersections have cameras, township projections show the program could generate $24 million annually before driver behavior changes drop that figure to $8 million.<\/p>\n Lower Merion does not retain the money from the tickets. Revenue first pays administrative expenses, with the remaining funds directed to a state account for transportation enhancement projects.<\/p>\n Towns enrolled in the automated enforcement program get priority when they seek state transportation grants, however.<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Township leaders have described the cameras as a safety measure. Officials say residents have voiced concerns for years about hazardous conditions on local roads.<\/p>\n Per the ordinance, the cameras may be used only to enforce red-light violations.<\/p>\n Footage gets wiped 30 days after a case is settled, and that material cannot be released through Right to Know requests.<\/p>\n Superintendent of Police Andy Block told the Inquirer that traffic enforcement is a departmental priority and that the cameras “provide additional safety for our motorists traveling in the township.”<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lower Merion, Pennsylvania’s first automated red-light enforcement site generated hundreds of citations in a short period of time.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25589,28130,183,28,30,29,46354],"class_list":["post-276128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-inquirer","tag-lancaster-avenue","tag-lower-merion","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-the-philadelphia-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}