Attorney says red-light cameras may not help

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For Springfield attorney Rita Sanders, the big issue with red-light cameras isn't privacy; it's safety. And while Springfield City Council recently approved a request for proposal for a pilot red light camera system, Sanders said she doesn't think intersection cameras are the answer to the problem.|ret||ret||tab|

That's because Sanders, who purchased The Ticket Center from Shawn Askinosie in October 2000, doesn't think most people who run red lights are doing it on purpose. |ret||ret||tab|

And she's in a position to know. At The Ticket Center, now located in her offices at 2731 S. Meadowbrook, Sanders works with clients who receive tickets, often making deals with prosecutors so drivers don't have points assessed against their licenses. Her clients are ticketed for all sorts of traffic violations, including running red lights.|ret||ret||tab|

Sanders estimates that about 99 percent of the clients she sees for red-light violations did not break the law intentionally, and the drivers who do run through the red lights on purpose aren't the ones getting caught.|ret||ret||tab|

"I see a lot of people that have entered the intersection on green to turn left, and because the oncoming traffic is so heavy, they don't actually get to turn until that traffic stops, and by that time, the light is red," Sanders said. |ret||ret||tab|

Other clients run red lights because they're behind large trucks or buses, and they can't see the light until they're actually in the intersection, and by that time, the light's already red. |ret||ret||tab|

"I see people that are approaching the stop light and it turns yellow, and they may intend to stop, but they glance in the rearview mirror and notice that the car behind them is very close ... and is going to slam into the back of them, so they go on through," Sanders added.|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield City Council's move to approve the RFP for a pilot red light camera system doesn't mean the camera system will be approved and implemented, but it lets the city explore its options, according to City Manager Tom Finnie. |ret||ret||tab|

Don Clark, a purchasing agent with the city of Springfield, said council's approval means the city can issue the RFP when it's ready, but in many cases, it takes a lot of research sometimes several weeks' worth before an RFP is issued.|ret||ret||tab|

Though Sanders said the $100 fines for running red lights would generate revenue for the city and for her, since people come to her once they get a ticket she's concerned that putting cameras at the intersections will be a dangerous move.|ret||ret||tab|

"I think what (the city) is going to see is more rear-end collisions ... people are going to start approaching intersections wondering if there's a camera up, looking at whether there's a camera up and not paying attention to what they're doing and causing an accident," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

She added that if the city does ultimately decide to install the cameras, drivers also will slam on their brakes, afraid that the light will change as they move through the intersection and they will be ticketed.|ret||ret||tab|

Plus, Sanders said, studies used by the city in its consideration of red-light camera use may not be appropriate for Springfield's size and traffic flow.|ret||ret||tab|

"I've been in a lot of cities that are the size of Springfield but that do not have near the amount of traffic flow that we have ... The traffic here is enormous," she said.|ret||ret||tab|

Sanders, who was a police officer for 17 years, said the law in Springfield is pretty cut-and-dried: "If you don't make it through the intersection before the light turns red, you are subject to being ticketed."|ret||ret||tab|

However, making the move from a police officer who wrote tickets to a defense attorney who represents motorists has changed Sanders' view. |ret||ret||tab|

"As a police officer, I felt that everybody deserved to be in jail and everybody was guilty. And why they did something really wasn't of interest to me, just the fact that they had done it," Sanders said. |ret||ret||tab|

She also remembers that as a police officer, she felt that defense attorneys only existed to get criminals off, but she's since learned that a defense attorney's job is to protect the clients' best interests, be it through counseling, drug treatment programs, community service or, in some cases, jail time.|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to her work with The Ticket Center, Sanders handles felonies and more serious misdemeanors through another division of her practice, The Law Office of Rita Sanders.|ret||ret||tab|

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