Citations are down, but collisions are up, according to the Redmond Police Department’s latest data on the city’s pilot traffic-enforcement camera program.

So does this mean the program is improving safety in the city? Depends on who you talk to.

Five council members, including President Richard Cole and Vice President Pat Vache, attended Tuesday’s public safety meeting, where Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson released the latest data on the camera program.

The program began in February with a one-month warning period. The data will play a role when the council decides whether to extend the program later this fall, according to council member Hank Myers, public safety committee chair.

The number of citations issued at the three intersections with red-light cameras and one school zone with a speed camera has decreased 43.7 percent over a six-month period from March to August. Meanwhile, the number of collisions from January-August of 2010 has increased from 14 to 19 during that same time span this year.

The program includes red-light cameras on Redmond Way at 148th Avenue Northeast, eastbound and westbound on Northeast 40th Street at 156th Avenue Northeast and westbound on Union Hill Road and northbound on Avondale where the two roads intersect. A speed-zone camera is also located at Einstein Elementary, at 18025 N.E. 116th St.

Fines for violation are $124 and the program has generated approximately $630,000, according to Myers. A large percentage of that money is being used to pay for King County court costs and the city will find out how much it will receive — or pay — at the end of the year.

DECISION COMING SOON

September violation and collision data will be available at the Oct. 11 City Council study session, when council members will begin discussions on whether to extend the contract with camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Gibson said at Tuesday’s meeting.

The plan is for City Council to make a final vote on the program at its Nov. 1 business meeting, according to Gibson.Council member John Stilin said the most telling piece of information released at Tuesday’s meeting was the decrease in issued citations.

The number of violations have dropped from 2,142 in March to 1,204 in August — nearly a 44 percent decrease.

“That’s what we wanted to see,” said Stilin, a public safety committee member. “Ultimately, it’s that unsafe behavior that leads to the accidents.”

A three-month camera malfunction at Redmond Way and 148th Avenue Northeast led to some of the decrease in violations as the citations issued at that intersection declined from 871 in March to 384 in August.

The camera was not working properly in May, June and July, but was working properly in August, according to police spokesperson Jim Bove. In addition, the speed camera near Einstein Elementary was turned off during the summer months when school was not in session.

SKEWED NUMBERS

Anti-camera activist Scott Harlan said he believes the camera malfunction along with the police department’s increasing rate of rejecting potential infractions has skewed the big drop off in violations.

The rejection rate in March and April was 11 percent and has increased to 38 percent in July and August, Harlan pointed out in an e-mail sent to the City Council and the local media.

“While the police department has clearly been fine-tuning its review process for the better, those dramatic changes in the review process skew all of the earlier citation data reported as part of the program,” he wrote in the e-mail. “Using a consistent rejection rate throughout the pilot program would instead show a 7 percent reduction in citations, not the 43 percent reported by the police department. Meanwhile, accidents are up 37 percent”

Gibson said officers who review the video tape of possible infractions use the same discretion as they would when on patrol, but he did point out some officers are more strict than others.

“Our goal is to be more consistent in applying it,” Gibson said.

Nearly 90 percent of the infractions are issued to drivers not coming to a full stop before taking a right hand turn at a red light.

It’s in those situations where bicyclists and pedestrians are at the greatest risk, Stillin said.”You are looking for a car coming in your path,” he said.

“That’s what you are looking for. … You are programmed to drive looking for a big vehicle, so you smack the bicycle coming through intersection. What this program is asking people to do is what the law is asking: stop and look and think. That’s the behavior that we want to correct.”

But Harlan points out that accidents have actually increased since the program was put in place, compared to last year, making him question the notion that the cameras actually improve safety in the city.

While collisions have increased, Gibson said he believes the program has been effective, pointing out the drastic reduction in violations.

“People are well aware of where the cameras are,” Gibson said. “I think people are modifying their behavior, attributing to reduction in violations.”

When it comes to analyzing the data, each side has a different viewpoint, but the overall point of the program is very clear, according to council member David Carson.

“All we want people to do is comply with the law,” he said. “Drive safely. That’s it. It’s not that hard.”