When Redmond started its red light camera pilot program, Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson told the city council, “collision data alone probably does not justify the use of cameras … we don’t have that many collisions in Redmond.”

Well, now we do.

The police department reported last month that collisions are up 36 percent at the camera intersections since the cameras were installed.  Additionally, rear-end accidents are up 33 percent. The point of the program is to reduce collisions. It’s not working.

This result is not unexpected. Cities across the country are dumping this program because they have not seen an improvement in safety. In the last three months, two of the nation’s largest cities — Los Angeles and Houston — have cancelled their camera program.

Redmond is a late adopter to a 1990s technology that isn’t working.

Has driver behavior at these intersections changed? Very little. The city’s report shows that the camera company has identified only seven percent fewer potential violations at two key intersections during the pilot period.

The city has issued $1.2 million in tickets in six months. What has this program brought to Redmond? It has brought 36 percent more accidents, little change in driving behavior, clogged intersections as people are afraid to make legal right turns, the signatures of 6,000 residents who demand a vote on the program, and now legal fees the city is paying with taxpayer funds to keep those same signatures in the city’s vault so they can’t be validated.

The program has also brought the city’s elected officials the self-inflicted poor public relations and distractions that come with their handling of their citizen’s initiative.

The city will be making a decision as early as next week on cancelling this program.

I know they sincerely want your input and they read and respond to all e-mails. Please let them know you want the camera contract cancelled at mayor council@redmond.gov.

Scott Harlan, Redmond