City cautious with cameras

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BY SUSAN BROWN
sbrown@nwitimes.com
219.836.3780 | Friday, June 20, 2008 | (12 comment(s))

HAMMOND | Though swiftly signed into local law, the city's new red light camera enforcement program isn't ready to launch, according to Hammond police Lt. Pat Vicari, who supervises the traffic division.

"(City Attorney) Kris Kantar sent a letter to the State Board of Accounts to make sure we do this correctly and that it can, in fact, be done," he said. "We're not going to run out and throw up cameras. We're trying to do this right."

Approached only in recent months by SafeSpeed, the Chicago firm shopping the program in Northwest Indiana, Vicari already was familiar with red light cameras from his military days in Germany. He has been central in getting the program in place in Hammond, which is the first in the state to sign the controversial program into local law.

The program catches on camera cars running red lights and treats the offense as an infraction so no points are assessed against the driver's license. Critics argue the program suffers from due process issues and that it has been used primarily as a revenue generator. Supporters counter the program is a public safety tool and cite statistics showing a reduction in accidents.

"We knew we were pioneering this program," Vicari said. "It's groundbreaking. We don't expect to go online today, tomorrow or the next day."

And prior to any cameras going into effect, Vicari promised a public information blitz. "It's not going to be a secret where these cameras will be," he said.

Vicari denounced a commonly held contention the program amounts to a revenue generator. "This is about public safety," he said. "We had (about) 3,100 crashes last year. Fourteen people died as a result of those crashes."

Two of the fatalities were at intersections Vicari determined to be among the city's six most dangerous local intersections. The deaths occurred at 165th Street and Hohman Avenue and 169th Street and Kennedy Avenue.

"We do have higher volume crashes in our city, however, a lot of them are on state roads and U.S. highways," Vicari said. State statute is clear that red light cameras cannot be installed at intersections involving either state or federal highways so they are not among the intersections cited by Vicari.

Vicari compiled the crash data from the state's Accident Reporting Information and Exchange System, available only to law enforcement agencies. Since 2004, the six worst local intersections in Hammond accounted for 539 crashes, two fatalities and 186 injuries.

"A lot of people lose sight of what this program is trying to accomplish," he said. "If it helps me save one life, prevent one crash, then to me it's worth it."

To those who contend the program will increase rear-end collisions, Vicari said there are studies pro and con. His own calculations of the city's yellow lights, however, show them to be adequate.

"The current yellow lights are more than long enough to enable (drivers) to stop," he said.

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Why didnt McDermott wrote on Jun 20, 2008 12:48 PM:

" Why didn't McDermott dictate a letter to the state board of accounts? He's supposed to be an attorney, at least thats what he calls it. He isn't capable of dictating a letter, he allows a crooked city lawyer to write a letter and pick our pockets? or, does Kantar give Mcdermott a kickback the way Nancy Fromm gave bob Cantrell a kickback? I bet McDermott gets half of Kantar's fee. They are both close associates of Mr. Cantrell, they know how the game is played. "

rustcity wrote on Jun 20, 2008 11:40 AM:

" Did Hammond seek competive bids from companies other than SafeSpeed for these traffic camera systems? How is the revenue going to be split?
Are Hammond Police going to ticket those whose license plate is obscured by non-transparent coverings? "

Kris pad the bill Kantar wrote on Jun 20, 2008 11:19 AM:

" What do you want to bet her bill on this comes to well over $20,000 for sending a letter. Yeah, she and McDermott know how to milk the tax payers, Bobby taught them well. "

yellow lights wrote on Jun 20, 2008 10:38 AM:

" I don't know about all that. I live in Porter county, and when I go out to Lake county(Merrillville in general) it seems like the yellows are longer. I notice the difference as I come into Valpo. Seems the lights are shorter in Valpo. Although it could just be me... I'm not sure. "

Southside Johnny wrote on Jun 20, 2008 10:36 AM:

" Hey, CAVEman, google red-light cameras and shortened yellows, or better yet, Tennessee House Bill 3854.

How's that for a conspiracy theory? "

This Will Not Stop Accidents wrote on Jun 20, 2008 10:07 AM:

" but it will record them. At first there will probably be MORE accidents until we all catch on. Yellow now means stop also. What color is Caution - Slow Down? A real problem is the cellphone talkers and ipodners. Driving is sometimes a secondary task to reading, talking, listening or even movie watching. "

Cantrells Flunky wrote on Jun 20, 2008 9:53 AM:

" Could this be the same Kris Kantar that is a member of the Cantrell crime family? Why yes, I believe she is, Bobby placed her as a (corrupt) judge in Lake Station city court while she also draws a paycheck from the city of Hammond and Tom McDermott, one of Cantrell's captains in the"family". How on earth does this "fine public servant" find the time to serve both the city of Hammond and the city of Lake Station? "

Concerned wrote on Jun 20, 2008 9:03 AM:

" CAVEman,
You must have read the same articles that I have. It's also been proven that lenghtening the time of the yellow light reduces accidents. Lake County put that in your pipe! "

CAVEman wrote on Jun 20, 2008 8:53 AM:

" Stop signals are regulated by federal guidelines - the yellow lights cannot be shortened. Good job in starting another conspiracy theory though. "

Jack wrote on Jun 20, 2008 8:47 AM:

" The City of Hammond cares nothing about safety. This is just another way for the mayor to get our money since the state imposed a cap on property taxes. "

What the OTHER side wrote on Jun 20, 2008 7:06 AM:

" This reporter, after 5 slam pieces, now is open to the fact that there may be a non evil motive for keeping trucks from blowing through lights at 45 mph, and that life could be saved? Too little too late. "

Proud CAVEman since wrote on Jun 20, 2008 5:11 AM:

" someone with a camera and a stopwatch should go out now and record the length of those yellow lights because once the cameras go up, it will be very interesting to see if they end up shortened. "

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