Stop on red at two Federal Way intersections or face a $124 ticket

The City of Federal Way is rolling out a pilot Red Light Photo program on Aug. 25 at the intersections of South 320th Street and Pacific Highway South and at South 348th Street and Enchanted Parkway. Federal Way is the 15th city in Washington state to install the cameras.

The year-long pilot program begins with a 30-day grace period where only warnings will be issued.

Tickets, set by the state at $124, will be issued starting Sept. 25. Registered owners of the vehicles caught at these two intersections will be sent a photograph of their license plate along with the infraction and an online link to the video of their vehicle going through the light.

The cameras will snap a photo of cars entering the light on red. If a car is already in the intersection and the light turns red, that does not trigger the camera.

"We know people are frustrated by the shear amount of traffic trying to get through some of our intersections and we sympathize," said Federal Way Police Chief Brian Wilson. "But this is a safety issue. We'd really like to see one hundred percent compliance."

The City is contracting with American Traffic Solutions, Inc., out of Scottsdale, Az., for the pilot program. The program is expected to cost about $228,000 for the year, and expenses will be paid for by fines collected.

Nationally, more than 800 people die running red lights each year, while more than 200,000 are injured. None of these statistics take into account the high costs of property damage, medical treatment and productivity losses. Most red-light-running crashes are angle or side impact, which tend to be more severe than rear-end crashes.

According to the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running, red light photo enforcement has led to a 25 to 30 percent reduction in intersection injury crashes. Red light cameras are currently used by more than 300 U.S. communities in 25 states and the District of Columbia.

If photo enforcement generates revenue beyond the costs of running the program, it will be split between the police department, the municipal court and public works department for traffic and safety related issues.