All drivers should be aware that the City of Kent will soon be installing and activating six new red light cameras.
As part of the budgeting process for 2018, the Kent City Council approved the siting of the new red light cameras.
“There’s a real need for these cameras in our city,” Mayor Ralph said. “It’s not about the revenue generation, or every single ticket we can write; it’s really that . . . third car that rolls through that really red light, there was not an attempt to stop on their part.”
According to our sister site The B-Town (Burien) Blog, from May 1, 2009, through 2011, the City of Burien collected $592,440 in revenue from fines paid by red light scofflaws at three intersections where cameras were posted. But the provider’s costs were $611,413, for a net deficit of -$18,973. After three years, the City of Burien terminated their red light camera program in 2012, with one Councilmember calling it “a boondoggle for the red light camera company, which makes $250,000 a year from it without any real benefit to the city, plus the costs to the city for cops to write the tickets.”
“The goal here is safer streets, safer roadways, and we don’t want it to become where it’s just an automatic (ticket)” Chief Padilla said.
Each red light violation will be recorded, then reviewed on tape by a police officer.
Tickets will cost $136, but will count only as a civil penalty and not a moving violation, which means it won’t affect car insurance rates.
RED LIGHT CAMERA LOCATIONS
The first phase – three cameras – will go live July 1 at the following locations:
-
- Central and Smith
- Central and James
- Kent-Des Moines Road and Pacific Hwy (eastbound approach from the west)
The second phase of three additional cameras will go live Aug. 1:
-
- 256th and 104th
- East Valley Highway and 212th
- 240th and 104th
Mayor Dana Ralph and Chief Rafael Padilla sat down recently and discussed the new red light cameras for a “Kent Now” video:
It’s for the cities revenue, nothing else