Federal Highway Administration research has found that cameras can reduce red light violations and broadside crashes but can also increase less serious rear-end accidents caused by people making sudden stops to avoid tickets. Thus far, the studies have focused solely on straight-through and left-turn crashes because they are the most serious and common, said Doug Hecox, an agency spokesman.
Right-turn collisions are a "considerably rarer thing . . . [and] tend to have less likelihood of a fatality or serious injury," he said.
Officials in Los Angeles and other cities that cite large percentages of right-turn violators -- Covina, South Gate, Lancaster, Baldwin Park, Walnut and Montebello -- say the infractions increase hazards, particularly for pedestrians. "People have this misconception that it's OK to whip a right turn on a red light," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Jon White, with Lancaster's photo enforcement program.
Right turns at red lights have "always been associated with some danger," said transportation researcher Richard Retting of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Enforcing against drivers who don't stop at all has the potential to make intersections safer."
Cities choose which intersection approaches and movements -- left turn, straight through, right turn or a combination -- they want cameras to track, often after reviewing accident and violation data. Many cities record illegal right turns only when a vehicle is going 15 mph or faster.
The city of Los Angeles issued more than 30,000 photo tickets last year at 32 camera-equipped intersections. About eight in 10 involved right turns, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Matthew MacWillie, the program's co-coordinator.
Improper right turns had not caused a major accident problem, said Glenn Ogura, a city traffic engineer. But they reflect bad driver habits.
"They could actually hit a pedestrian," he said. "We've been lucky, [but] it's certainly, for us, a very real safety problem."
Twenty-three of the county's 88 cities -- along with Los Angeles County and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- have installed red light camera systems. All red light running violations in Los Angeles County carry a hefty $381 penalty -- with one notable exception.
Tickets for improper right turns at traffic signals in the city of Los Angeles carry a fine of only $159.
