- November 18, 2024
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The city of Palm Coast has begun discussions to eliminate its red light camera program, according to City Manager Jim Landon.
In light of the recent attention given by judges Dennis Craig and Melissa Moore Stens to the red light cameras in Palm Coast, Landon was asked by radio host David Ayres on Free For All Friday, on May 2, a question: “Is this a bigger hassle than it’s worth?”
Landon responded: “I can tell you that I was and I still am a fan, from a philosophical stand point, of people that run red lights are putting people in danger. Just this week, my granddaughter went through an intersection five minutes before the lady, who was over 70 years old, got hit in a crosswalk when she was on her bicycle.”
That was a stop sign, not a red light, but the principle is the same, Landon said. He continued:
“To answer your question? Yes. We definitely will have this conversation. I know other people will probably bring it up. I will bring it up at the council meeting next week.
“We need to look very hard at how we’re going to eliminate this program in Palm Coast. The ironic thing about that, is council members have asked me to go to our vendor and ask how do we get out of our contract? ... We have unintended consequences, we do not like the results we’re seeing, we think this is in essence — we feel like we’re harassing our citizens, and it doesn’t feel good any longer.”
Landon said he has already met with a representative at American Traffic Solutions, the Arizona-based company that supplies and maintains the cameras, to explore options to “renegotiate the contract to get out of it as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Landon added: “The system is broken, and we need to fix that.”
