ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Orange Park town council just approved starting negotiations with American Traffic Solutions, the company who provided the town with its three red-light cameras, to keep them on the roads for three more years.
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Action News Jax has been following the status of the town’s red-light cameras for months, after a committee brought up a proposal to get rid of them last December. But eight months later, the town remains one of two in northeast Florida, alongside Green Cove Springs, to still use the cameras.
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When the town approved the consideration to extend using the cameras last week, multiple people took the podium with concerns the cameras weren’t doing anything to keep drivers safe, like the town says they are. Instead, drivers like Philip Maple say they’re more of a money maker for Orange Park.
“I don’t buy that the cameras are doing anything for safety,” Maple says, “I feel like all they’re doing is bringing the town revenue.”
Maple manages the Barley & Pie brewery in Fleming Island. He’s become so fed up by the hundreds of dollars he’s paid in red-light camera tickets, he made and named a new beer called “Town of Orange Park Take Down Your Red Light Cameras.” Maple says it sold out within days of going on the menu.
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“I think people resonated with it,” says Maple, “but, for me, I’m just tired of getting dinged with tickets.”
Action News Jax got new records from Orange Park showing how much money has been made off the cameras, year-by-year, since they were first installed in 2012. That year, the town says it received $228,417 from them. Over the last year, the town estimates $1,209,402 in gross revenue came from the cameras.
Town council member Kenneth Vogel says the money is needed for neighborhoods and town services.
“There’s no secret that the red light cameras bring in a tangible revenue,” Vogel says, “but if the revenue wasn’t there, that can affect quality of life.”
Even though the cameras are meant to be a safety measure, new data from the town shows they aren’t exactly slowing drivers down.
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Action News Jax got the numbers of all tickets given by the cameras since they were installed. The Orange Park Police Department says 1,687 citations were issued in 2013. Last year, the number of tickets given by the cameras, according to police, grew to a total of 4,832. So far this year, the police department says 2,830 citations have been issued.
Around the state, the Florida Department of Transportation says more crashes have happened at intersections with red light cameras after being installed. Recent FDOT data says the total crashes at red-light camera intersections, statewide, went from 16,194 before installation to 16,670 afterwards. In Orange Park, FDOT says the number of crashes went from 35 to 40 in the months before and after the cameras were placed.
Vogel says, cameras or no cameras, the safety of drivers is his priority.
“For me, safety is first and foremost. If, God forbid, something happens to our citizens, that’s a concern we all share,” Vogel says.
But some drivers like Maple say the cameras aren’t helping anyone.
“There has to be a better way for the county to make money than charging us for potentially running a red light,” says Maple.
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