The following information has been provided by the Redlands Police Department:

Photo equipment to monitor red light compliance has been installed and is ready to go online at the intersection of Citrus Avenue and University Street.

(Editors note: You can watch a report on Riverside’s red light camera system by clicking here.)

On January 15, the City Council approved an agreement with Redflex Traffic Systems to install a photo-based traffic safety system to monitor red light runners, known colloquially as “red light cameras.”

Red light cameras have been shown to be effective in reducing collisions both at the intersection where they are installed and at other intersections in the area.

In studies done for the City of Redlands in 2007, the intersection of University Street and Citrus Avenue was determined to be the most dangerous intersection in the city in terms of red light violators and the one with the highest incidence of red light violations.

From November 1997 through October 2006, there were 120 traffic collisions at the intersection, including 50 involving injuries. Two people died in a collision there in December 2003.

From November 2006 through October 2007 there were 17 reported traffic collisions, including two hit-and-run collisions and six involving injuries at the same intersection.

The five-year contract with Redflex limits the city’s potential financial risk to a maximum of a year. Under terms of the contract, the city will pay Redflex a flat fee of $6,000 a month for the single monitored intersection. If the number of traffic violations is reduced to a level where the amount of money paid to the city in fines is less than the $6,000 owed to Redflex, the city has a right to terminate the contract after a year.