Red light cameras lead to fight

LEAGUE CITY — George Garrett has no problem paying for the ticket he received after someone in his family ran a red light at FM 518 and the south Interstate 45 access road.

But Garrett is claiming League City has no right to issue citations based on what red light cameras, operated by Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems, record because a proper traffic engineering study was not performed before the cameras were installed.

The car involved in the traffic offense is registered to Garrett, of Dickinson, but he said a family member was driving the car at the time.

Garrett, an engineer with more than 40 years of experience in the petroleum and petrochemical industries, said League City’s traffic study should have been conducted by an engineer.

Garrett filed public information requests with the city to obtain copies of the traffic engineering analysis.

“League City’s study is on an incomplete form provided by TxDOT,” Garrett said. “They didn’t do a proper traffic engineering study, and I think it makes all their citations invalid.”

The Texas Transportation Code states a city must perform a traffic engineering study of every intersection approach before red light cameras are installed.

A study would determine the traffic volume of the intersection, history of accidents at the approach, the number or frequency of red light violations at the intersection and similar traffic engineering and safety criteria, Garrett said.

Cities can’t impose civil penalties caught by cameras if a traffic analysis is not performed, according to the code.

Garrett filed a complaint against the city through the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, which will investigate his claim.

“To me, it did not meet the requirements normally required to do an engineering study,” C.W. Clark, director of compliance and enforcement with the board, said.

The investigation can take a couple months to years for completion, Clark said.

In Compliance

Cities can use an engineering analysis template form on the Texas Department of Transportation’s website to fill out results of the study, Stuart Corder, director of transportation operations at the department’s Houston district.

Redflex contracted a company in Texas to gather information for the traffic study, spokeswoman Cristina Weekes said.

League City Engineer Jack Murphy transferred the information from the study that Redflex submitted to the template because the Texas Department of Transportation does not conduct business directly with vendors, Murphy said.

The analysis form does not require a professional engineer’s seal, Corder said.

No city in Texas has violated the requirement to perform a traffic analysis before installing red light cameras.

“If this happened, we would require removal of the system unless the city could provide an analysis showing the need for the system,” Corder said.

Another Engineer Joins Fight

Jason Graves, a chemical engineer and League City resident, met Garrett at administrative hearings in May.

Graves received a red light citation in February at the same intersection Garrett did.

Garrett and Graves’ appeal hearings are set for June 23 in League City Municipal Court.

Graves said there are holes in the traffic engineering study, including a lack of documentation of signal timing and traffic volume data.

“You don’t have to be a traffic engineer to recognize the flaws in the traffic study,” Graves said.