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Publication Date: Friday, September 24, 2004 New traffic devices to cut down on red-light violations
New traffic devices to cut down on red-light violations
(September 24, 2004) Mountain View home to five "rat boxes"
By Huong C. Pham
Running a red light has become so common that a police officer stopped a random offender in front of public officials who gathered to announce the next phase of the Stop Red Light Running Campaign last week.
Traffic Safe Communities Network, a county traffic safety program, introduced 25 new "rat boxes" that are attached to traffic lights in eight cities including Mountain View.
The boxes enable officers to monitor traffic lights from the opposite side of the direction they are facing and quickly pursue offenders. With the subsequent increase in enforcement, the county hopes to reduce the number of traffic collisions caused by drivers running red lights.
Rat boxes are electronic devices that are typically installed eight per intersection. accompanied by four warning signs, which displays the minimum fine of $336 for each red light violation. The name "rat boxes" derived from its original design which was a box with a wire that protruded like a rat's tail, said Dennis Belluomini, Mountain View's traffic engineer.
The boxes are installed at five intersections in Mountain View. During a demonstration on Sept. 15, five red-light runners were cited at the intersection of Central Expressway and Rengstorff Avenue within an hour.
"Green doesn't mean go anymore," said Ananth Prasad, a county civil engineer involved in the program. "Green means, wait, watch, then go."
According to the California Highway Patrol, there were 7,155 collisions between 1998 and 2003 in Santa Clara County when the primary collision factor was a red light violation. Out of that number, 6,674 involved injury and 19 resulted in death.
"Rat boxes can cost $125 to $150 and installation takes only a few hours whereas traffic cameras can cost anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000 per [direction]," said Prasad.
According to the Federal Highway Administration and the American Trauma Society, 55 percent of Americans admitted to recently running a red light, and two out of three Americans see other drivers run red lights every day.
To continue reducing the number of red-light violaters, the state is expected to approve a grant to introduce additional boxes at 30 new intersections in Santa Clara County in 2005.
Traffic engineer Belluomini said he works with the police, the county and the signal maintenance crew to locate the boxes for installation. However, if the boxes are located in a position that can not be seen by a police officer or places an officer in a dangerous position, then it is not worth installing, said Belluomini.
"We don't have a lot of red-light runners in Mountain View (unlike) other cities, where red light running is habitual," he added.
E-mail Huong C. Pham at hpham@mv-voice.com
Locations of Mountain View's rat boxes:
El Camino Real and Grant Road
El Camino Real and Castro Street
El Camino Real and Shoreline Blvd./Miramonte Avenue
El Camino Real and El Monte Avenue
Central Expressway and Rengstorff Avenue
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