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Red-light cameras affecting Abington drivers

MONTGOMERY COUNTY Red-light cameras affecting Abington drivers ABINGTON In the first 40 days of its red-light camera program, Abington Township issued 694 violation letters to drivers, Police Chief Bill Kelly said Tuesday.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Red-light cameras affecting Abington drivers

ABINGTON In the first 40 days of its red-light camera program, Abington Township issued 694 violation letters to drivers, Police Chief Bill Kelly said Tuesday.

The two-month grace period, in which violators received a warning but no fine, ended Tuesday. Drivers who run a red light will now be fined $100.

Abington - the only Pennsylvania municipality other than Philadelphia to try out the cameras - has posted them at three intersections: Old York and Susquehanna Roads; Old Welsh Road and Susquehanna; and Fitzwatertown and Moreland Roads.

Kelly said all of the violations were reviewed by an officer and 70 citations were thrown out as inconclusive. But of the 694 that held up, he said, only 26 percent were by Abington residents.

It's too early to tell if the cameras have had an effect on public safety, but the Police Department said those three intersections logged seven crashes in August and September of 2013 compared with only two during the same period this year.

Critics often argue that the cameras increase instances of rear-end crashes, but so far Abington has had none at those intersections.

Jenny Robinson, a spokeswoman for AAA of the Mid-Atlantic, said: "Those crash statistics are what we'll be looking for" in determining whether to support the pilot program's continuation. She said the number of citations is comparable to what Philadelphia logged at similar intersections in its first two months with the cameras.

Abington's Board of Commissioners will review the program next summer to decide whether to keep it. - Jessica Parks