Manteca motorists— 688 to be exact —  over 20 days have managed to clearly meet the legal threshold to qualify for a $490 ticket for running a red light.

That translates into 34.4 verifiable red light violations in an average day. And that is just at the Airport Way and Daniels Street intersection.

Those 688 motorists — and whoever runs a red light at that intersection between now and midway or so through next week — will receive a courtesy warning in the mail.

After that, it’s a $490 fine.

The warnings would have reflected motorists collective paying out $16,856 based on an average day of red light running. Overall, the 688 tickets in the first 20 days of the grace period would have come to $337,120.

The worst approach by far is traffic using the two left turn lanes from northbound Airport Way to westbound Daniels Street.

The reason the cameras are in place at Daniels and Airport — and eventually four other intersections in the coming week is not to generate money for the city.

It’s to reduce the city’s 1,000 traffic collisions in a given year of which 20 percent were caused by running a red light.

If you think the $490 ticket is expensive, insurance company data from 2022 shows that moderate intersection collisions cost an average $7,000 plus just in repair bills assuming no one is injured.

The $7,000 figure is from three years ago and, as usual, is lower than it would cost in California.

The red lights are at zero cost for the city.

And before the city sees a penny of their $100 share of the $490 ticket — the rest goes to the court system as well as the state and the county — they are contractually obligated to pay the company installing and operating the red light cameras $268,000 a year.

If red light running keeps at its current pace, American Traffic System will be paid $125,560 just from the Daniels and Airport red light running tickets.

Meanwhile, the county and state would realize $489,684 just from the one intersection.

Councilman Charlie Halford noted he’d like to see the company move the red light cameras  from Daniels and Airport and place them elsewhere. Better yet, he’d like to see all red light cameras gone.

But that will require motorists in Manteca having a significantly higher level of compliance with driving laws than they now do.

Halford noted the cameras are first and foremost an education tool to hammer home the need to comply with vehicle code rules to reduce carnage and improve safety for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

How the red light

cameras work

Challenging the ticket is likely to be a futile exercise.

Unlike older red light camera systems, the American Traffic Solutions uses radar and the latest high resolution cameras technology.

Twelve seconds prior to the light turning red, the system starts recording traffic as it approaches the intersection.

Still frames are captured if any part of a vehicle intrudes past the limit line — typically the marking of the crosswalk closest to the approaching car — when the light turns red.

Those still frames include ones that zero in in the driver as well as the license plate.

At the same time, the video is “stamped” with the speed the radar reads as the vehicle runs the red light.

The recording continues as the vehicle continues through the intersection.

All if that information is packaged together and forwarded to the Manteca Police Department.

At the police department, a traffic unit officer will look at the information.

They will check the photo of the driver from the camera system against the photo of the driver’s license of the registered owner whose information is on file with the DMV.

Once everything meets the standard required to make sure it would pass muster with a judicial review, the officer OKs the company to go ahead and mail a citation with the photographic evidence and accompanying data such as speed, location, and time to the driver.

Typically, 70 percent of the potential red light violations the company cues up for more than 300 client law enforcement agencies results in tickets being authorized.

The other four intersections receiving red light cameras are:

*Northgate Drive at North Main Street.

*Yosemite Avenue at Union Road.

*Main Street at Louise Avenue.

*Yosemite Avenue at Commerce Drive-Northwoods Avenue.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email [email protected]