Council hesitant on red light cameras

Police suggest cameras could cut down on fatalities at three intersections

BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

City Councilors agreed that Brighton needs to do something to stop drivers from running red lights and putting autonomous cameras at intersections might be the best way to do it, but they doubt most residents would appreciate the change.

“Public perception is the big thing, and when this project was approached in the past, it was pretty strongly opposed,” Councilor Clint Blackhurst said. “ e public kind of felt this was a revenue generator for the city as much as you try to tell them it’s the safety thing,

Brighton councilors heard a report from Chief Matt Domenico and his tra c and crime analysis sta about installing picture-taking red light cameras at three Brighton intersections — U.S. 85 and 136th Avenue, U.S. 85 and Bromley Lane and East Bridge Street and 18th Avenue.

Councilors were split on the issue, with Councilor Matt Johnston pledging to do anything he could to keep it from happening.

“I have to be against red light cameras unless we take it to a vote of the people and see how they feel about it, but I think we all know how that ends up,” Johnston said.

Brighton has a problem, according to Tra c Safety Unit Sergeant Nicholas Struck. e city has su ered 82 tra c accidents between 2017 and 2022 that involved either fatalities or serious bodily injury.

“ ese are signi cant injuries. We are not talking about scrapes and bruises,” Struck said. “You can think of it as incapacitating. ey cannot get up on their own.”

Half of those serious accidents were rollover or t-bone accidents.

“A T-bone can also lead into a rollover crash, but those two lead the way in fatal and SBI numbers for the past two years,” he said.

Of the 82 serious accidents, 13 of them occurred at one of the three intersections, Struck said.

He suggested installing red light cameras in the three intersections at a cost of about $60,500 per month to the city, plus another $500 per month to cover tra c o cers reviewing violations about three hours each week.

Violators —or the owners of the cars captured running a red light — would be mailed a ticket for a civil violation. According to state law, the tickets are capped at $75 and are zero-point violations, meaning they wouldn’t a ect the driver’s state driving record. e ticket issued by an o cer who witnessed a driver running a red light is a four-point violation and a minimum $125 ne, he said.

“And you can contest a red light camera ticket,” he said. “It’s just like a parking ticket. And if it’s not