Automated enforcement comes to New Jersey

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) recently designated the first three municipalities for participation in the "Red Light Running Automated Enforcement" pilot program. These municipalities are Brick Township, Ocean County, East Brunswick, Middlesex County and the City of Newark, Essex County.

The Red Light Running camera program supplements New Jersey's local law enforcement resources. Each of the selected municipalities contains specific locations that have a demonstrated red light running history at which previous engineering, enforcement and education efforts have not decreased violations and/or crashes. The installation of cameras at these may deter motorists from speeding and increase roadway safety. The pilot program is designed to determine whether a traffic control signal monitoring system will increase long-term safety at these locations.

In January 2008, Governor Jon S. Corzine enacted Assembly Bill 4314, establishing a five-year pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the installation and utilization of traffic control signal monitoring systems in New Jersey. These monitoring systems use cameras and vehicle sensors in conjunction with an existing traffic control signal to produce images of vehicles disregarding a red signal and "running a red light." Similar programs have been implemented in municipalities in twenty-four other states across the country.