I’ll be at the Encinitas City Council meeting Wednesday night as it weighs placing red light cameras in locations around the city.
In February, the city’s Mobility & Traffic Safety Commission voted 5-1 to recommend Encinitas reinstall cameras that a staff report said were used in the city from 2004 to 2020.
The momentum behind the push to restore them came in large part from the group Safe Streets Encinitas, which formed after 12-year-old Emery Chalekian was hit by a car and killed while crossing Encinitas Boulevard last year.
Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, the city has received 60 pages of public comments, the vast majority of which favor reinstalling the cameras.
A vote Wednesday would not necessarily mean red light cameras are installed. The exact language is to review, discuss, and provide direction to staff regarding a possible policy for red light-camera detection per the state law, Senate Bill 720.
That became law in October and allowed California cities to adopt red-light cameras that do not use facial photography. It also changes the violation from a $500 criminal fee to a $100 civil penalty, with higher fees up to $500 for subsequent offenses. In Encinitas, the city’s proposal specifies the revenue could only be used on local traffic safety projects.