Members of the Wilmington City Council are preparing an effort to end the red light camera program

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Luke Waddell says it’s one of the top items on his agenda since his election to the Wilmington City Council in 2021.

This is now expected to be one of the key topics on the agenda of next week’s budget meeting.

The future of the city’s controversial red light camera program, first installed in the 1990s, is up in the air, with Waddell and fellow council member David Joyner leading an effort to end the program over what they see as financial, safety and legal problems.

“I think it’s time to move on,” Waddell said Thursday afternoon at Skyline Center.

Wilmington is nearing the end of its agreement with American Traffic Solutions, a third-party group that oversees the 13 cameras installed at intersections throughout the city.

When drivers get a ticket for running one of the red lights, they pay a $50 fine. But almost all of that money – 90% – goes to New Hanover County Schools. Waddell said the remaining 10% is supposed to pay the cost of the program, but he said last year alone the cameras lost the city $300,000.

The councilman added that he would not advocate removing the program if he felt it would help protect Wilmington residents. Instead, an evaluation of the program conducted by the city’s Research and Budget Office in April found that the presence of the cameras had “no statistically significant effect” on the number of collisions. Rear-end collisions increase if a traffic light has a camera, the study shows.

“Ultimately for me it comes down to the question: do these traffic cameras make us safer? And the studies I’ve seen show that they have no statistical impact on making these intersections safer,” Joyner said.

Joyner also cited the potential legal implications of keeping the program. Wilmington is now the only city in North Carolina to use red light cameras, after the city of Raleigh did not renew its contract in April. New Hanover County’s assistant district attorney said it is questionable whether the use of the cameras is even constitutional, given both the Sixth Amendment and due process concerns.

“If there are questions about the constitutionality of the statute that allows SafeLight to even operate in the state, in the city of Wilmington, then that’s something we need to think carefully about whether or not we continue that relationship,” Joyner said. said.

The two council members still have to convince their colleagues. In an email statement, Charlie Rivenbark said the program was never intended to make money, but was intended to make Wilmington’s roads safer. He says it did just that.

“If the program is a drain on our other budgetary responsibilities, which I believe it is not, then we must terminate it according to the agreed upon process in our contract agreement,” Rivenbark’s statement read. “I believe the system is needed now more than ever due to the massive increase in local traffic.”

If the city decides not to renew the contract, the city could have the option to own and operate the cameras itself.

The decision could benefit the Wilmington Police Department, which uses the cameras primarily to investigate traffic accidents. Department spokesman Lt. Greg Willett said that while the cameras are “certainly” a help, removing them would not dramatically impact WPD’s ability to investigate.

Waddell said he is open to the idea of keeping the cameras under city control, but for now he is focused on making sure the contract is not renewed.

“We are the last city in the state of North Carolina to institute a red light camera program. It seems like a no-brainer that now is the time to get rid of this program and move on,” he said.