Los Angeles: On January 24, 2003, at approximately 10:00 a.m., the sixteenth Los Angeles area intersection equipped with automated photo red light technology was placed into service at Sunset Boulevard and LaBrea Avenue. Personnel from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation selected this intersection due to the high number of traffic collisions reported each year. The intersection falls within the Hollywood Community Police Area, and is in the Council District of Tom LaBonge.

The automated photo red light system is designed to capture motorists who fail to stop for a red traffic signal. The system monitors the flow of traffic with magnetic loop sensors that are embedded in the roadway prior to the limit line. A special camera mounted at the intersection snaps a picture of vehicles entering the intersection when the signal light is red. The camera takes two photographs, one of the vehicle behind the limit line, the second as the vehicle proceeds through the intersection. The film is processed and viewed by a specially trained police officer. Once the citation is screened and accepted by the officer, a citation will be prepared and mailed to the registered owner.

Each year in the United States more than 800 people die, and an estimated 200,000 are injured in traffic collisions involving motorists failing to stop for a red signal light. Photo red light technology, much like traditional traffic enforcement, plays a valuable role in the education of the motoring public. As traffic collisions throughout the State of California continue to rise each year, automated technology will greatly assist in the preservation of life, and the reduction of traffic collisions.

For further information, contact Sergeant Steven Foster, LAPD Red Light Coordinator at 213-473-7796.

This media advisory was prepared by Officer Jack Richter, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.