People running red lights are prompting concerns from the city council. Photo / Ben Fraser
People running red lights are prompting concerns from the city council. Photo / Ben Fraser
Cameras could be introduced in Tauranga to catch people driving through red lights.
The Tauranga City Council has revealed it has had to slow down traffic light phasing to help keep people safe.
Infrastructure general manager Nic Johansson told a council meeting on Monday that footage from council cameras was already helping police crackdown on drivers driving dangerously or breaking the rules.
During April, council staff worked with police during a 42-hour operation that fined 16 vehicle occupants for not wearing seatbelts, six drivers for using mobile phones, and six for running red lights.
Johansson said the council was looking at getting more cameras, particularly for red-light runners.
People driving through red lights was such a problem that the council was forced to manipulate traffic light phasing to make it safer for other drivers.
However, these drivers also ended up waiting longer than they should, contributing to congestion, Johansson said.
“The introduction of red-light cameras would be a step change for the roading network. It would be significantly positive,” he said.
“Where there is a lot of red-light running, you are forced to put safety first, so we extend the phasing.
“People are unnecessarily waiting for a green because we had to leave the red on longer to let the [offending] traffic through.”
Tauranga City Council infrastructure general manager Nic Johansson says the council has changed traffic light phasing because of red-light running. Photo / NZME
Red-light cameras would offer more “bang for buck” compared to building more infrastructure in the roading network to help reduce congestion, he said.
Red-light cameras are already in place in Wellington and Auckland, with more than $2.2 million accrued in fines in the past year. Each fine is $150.
Commissioner Bill Wasley told the meeting that red-light runners could be “quite scary”, especially when heavy vehicles were involved.
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said it was unfortunate that red-light runners were not seen as a police priority.
“I’m pleased we are going to look at red-light cameras.”
Tolley said a heavier police presence would help remind people of the rules.
New Zealand Police data shows 131 people in the Western Bay of Plenty were fined for running red lights last year.
This was an increase from the 92 fined in 2021. In 2020, 122 people were fined. In 2019, 121 people were fined. In 2018, 182 people were fined and in 2017, 211 people were fined.
In 2017, Western Bay Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter said such figures were not necessarily an accurate reflection of the red-light running problem because the fines are only for the people caught.
“Most of the ones who do it, do it when a police car isn’t there. I know, because I see them when I’m not on duty,” he said.
This week, a police spokesperson told the Bay of Plenty Times red-light running numbers over the past five years was “typical” and continued to be an issue in the Western Bay, especially Tauranga.
The spokesperson said Tauranga police had observed vehicles entering intersections on a green light without ensuring the exit was clear.
“Drivers then find themselves stuck in the middle of the intersection with the light phase changing to red. This then creates issues with all entry points unable to flow.”
The spokesperson said people who chose to run a red light put not only themselves at risk “but the lives of innocent members of our community at risk”.
“Pedestrians and other road users can be seriously injured or killed when people choose to run through a red light,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s a risk that is not worth taking and police regularly [target] red light runners because we know the danger this type of behaviour poses.”
In response to Tolley’s reference to red-light running not being a priority, the spokesperson said police resources were primarily targeted towards driver behaviour most likely to cause death or serious injury on the road.
“We conduct a range of road policing activities, including a focus on red-light compliance.”
Research from Monash University’s Accident Research Centre in Melbourne shows an estimated reduction in casualty crashes of 26 per cent at sites where there were red light cameras.
Red-light cameras use radars to track and capture vehicles running a red light. A primary radar scans and tracks vehicles as they approach an intersection. If a vehicle crosses the stop line during a red-light phase, a camera photographs the rear of the vehicle.
