Seeing red over this camera idea

Welcome 2024! The plan was to ease in, talk about some big-picture stuff, set the table, that sort of thing.

Red-light cameras kicked it to the curb.

Have you heard of Sheriff Mike Prendergast’s latest attempt to antagonize the Citrus County public? The sheriff, under the guise of making money for cash-strapped local government, wants the Inverness City Council to hire a private company to enforce red-light violators.

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In typical Prendergast fashion, this idea received zero public discussion and is on the City Council agenda for the meeting the day after New Year’s. The Chronicle barely mentioned it in Monday’s paper.

I’d heard rumors for several weeks that Prendergast was peddling this red-light camera idea to both cities and the county. My guess is Crystal River and the county are watching to see what Inverness does with it.

There’s much to unpack here. Let’s jump right in.

Red-light cameras were all the rage 15 years ago. Towns small and large saw them as two-fold solutions: Reduce traffic crashes caused by red-light runners, and bring millions of dollars into the local coffers.

In time, though, the idea began to sour on citizens and government types. They saw it as an annoying hassle that did little but aggravate motorists.

Crystal River considered it in 2011. But council members couldn’t get past the idea that this seemed more a money-maker than a safety improvement, and eventually interest faded.

Today, 44 counties and cities in Florida have red-light cameras, accounting for 1 million violations a year, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The closest is in Port Richey.

Do they work? Depends on your definition of success.

They’re basically a cash cow since no money goes out, it only comes in. The vendor gets its cut off the top of each paid citation.

Safety-wise, though, not so much.

I encourage you to look at the FDHSMV report on red-light cameras. In nearly every important crash-data category, wrecks INCREASED after red-light cameras were installed. Rear-end crashes, in particular, went up, as would be expected when motorists are jamming the brake once the light turns yellow.

Let’s turn to Inverness.

I had a feeling something was up when a sheriff’s office flashing message board appeared in the U.S. 41 median heading into downtown. Along with the usual assortment of sheriff’s office pleasantries about keeping my head out of my app is this dire warning:

“Speed strictly enforced.”

And then this: “Speed limit 25 mph.”

Yay! The sheriff’s office is going to strictly enforce the 25 mph speed limit through town.

Except one thing. The speed limit is 30 mph in the downtown area and 35 mph just outside it. Nowhere on the main road is it 25 mph.

So, that leads to two possible conclusions:

—The sheriff’s office person putting together this message does not know the speed limit. That seems rather unlikely.

— Something’s up.

The agenda information is a total sheriff’s sales job, with not a single piece of data telling us whether this is a good idea for safety, a bad idea for safety, or any impact on safety. It does not include the state report on red-light cameras but instead has information — provided by the proposed vendor — on Florida’s poor safety record.

It does a splendid job explaining how the city can cash in.

The report is presented by Altumint, a Maryland-based company who is apparently the sheriff’s vendor choice. Altumint is not listed on the state’s red-light camera vendor list; the company's website says it contracts with Lake Hamilton, a town of 1,500 in Polk County.

Altumint estimates Inverness could receive $4.5 million annually from 60,000 violations occurring at a half-dozen busy intersections along State Road 44.

Not sure how it came up with that estimate since there is no data from the sheriff’s office about how many people it is ticketing for running red lights at these intersections. The report relies on projections.

So, in summation:

• Red-light cameras are not a safety deterrent in the Florida cities that use them.
• Prendergast hasn’t provided a single reason why Inverness should have them other than to make money off motorists.

Look, I’m just going to jump right out there and say this is not Small Town Done Right. I mean…how cynical can we get? Red-light cameras? Oh, please.

This prize-in-the-cereal-box approach to funding our government lacks initiative and leadership. We don’t have time in 2024 for such nonsense.

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