Encinitas to Discuss Halting Red Light Cameras at June 26 Council Meeting

Installed several years ago as a means to prevent people from running red lights at two of busiest Encinitas intersections, red light cameras have certainly done that job.

According to a report in U-T San Diego, tickets for running red lights at Encinitas Boulevard and El Camino Real are down to fewer than 200 per month, compared to about 430 per month when the cameras were added in February 2004.

However, the future of the cameras is up in the air, and the Encinitas City Council will discuss whether or not to remove the cameras at its June 26 meeting, at 6 p.m.

At the city's second red light camera intersection – El Camino Real and Leucadia Boulevard/Olivenhain Road – has gone down from 168 (in the first month after the installation in 2005)  to around 43 per month. 

Encinitas officials will decide to follow in the footsteps of the City of San Diego, which ended its red light camera usage in February 2013. Other cities across the state, including Los Angeles, have also ceased the programs. 

According to U-T San Diego, Encinitas officials said earlier this year that "they might be willing to reconsider the use of the cameras."