Aurora adding red-light cameras to New York, Eola intersection

Red-light cameras will be activated at one of Aurora's most dangerous intersections at midnight March 31.

The two cameras will record eastbound and westbound traffic on East New York Street at Eola Road. After a seven-day grace period that ends at midnight April 6, motorists who disregard traffic signals at New York and Eola will be fined $100.

Police say the far east-side intersection was the site of 11 crashes from the first of the year through Feb. 28. It accounted for 53 accidents in 2009 and 58 in 2008, the third and 11th highest crash totals in the city.

Chief Greg Thomas said cameras have proven successful in reducing crashes elsewhere.

"We're confident we will see similar decreases in collisions at New York and Eola as those we've experienced at the three intersections that currently have camera systems," he said.

Just six months ago, the city turned on cameras at the intersections of New York Street and Farnsworth Avenue, New York Street and Commons Drive and for north and southbound Farnsworth and Molitor. Ten crashes have occurred at each of the intersections since that time.

For the Farnsworth Avenue and Molitor Road intersection, that's an increase of one over those same six months in 2008 and 2009, Thomas said. But New York and Farnsworth, previously had 21 during that same period, and New York and Commons previously had 16.

The five cameras currently catch motorists entering intersections after the light turns red and record several still photographs and a 12-second video of the violation.

After being reviewed by three trained technicians at REDFLEX, the company supplying the technology, the video is sent to police who review it to determine if officers would have written a citation had they witnessed it.

If approved by the officer, a notice outlining the $100 fine is sent to the vehicle's owner within 20 days. The owner then has 21 days to either pay or contest the fine through an administrative hearing judge.

Drivers in Aurora are not ticketed for turning right on red or entering intersections on a yellow light unless officers reviewing the film determine a safety infraction.

"The cameras are doing exactly what they are supposed to," Thomas said. "And that is reducing accidents."