Putting a stop to red light runners

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Pay attention to this camera before you run a red light.

The Hillsborough County Commission will vote on a resolution today to support a bill that would allow counties and municipalities to issue traffic citations using red light cameras.

The Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act, or House Bill 259, would give local government the power to use digital cameras to document and enforce violations of traffic light laws.

"We could never have enough officers out there to see all of the violations that are occurring," Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said.

Bean supports the legislative effort to use cameras to document and enforce Florida's red light laws. The bill would also enable a judge to revoke a driver's license for up to five years if the driver gets three red light tickets or 15 moving violations within a three-year period.

"Hopefully, that would cause them to think twice or maybe even three times before they go running through on the last couple of seconds of a yellow or a red light," Bean said.

He said using cameras to enforce Florida's red light laws would also free up law enforcement officers to concentrate on more pressing matters.

The bill has had trouble making its way out of legislative committees in the past, but local officials said there's a renewed interest in using digital cameras to make intersections across the state of Florida safer.

Mark Wandall was the Sarasota man killed by a red light runner two years ago. He was 30 years old and his wife was expecting a child at the time.

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