Red-light cameras in four Camden and Gloucester County towns may be too quick to ticket

Red-light cameras in four towns in Camden and Gloucester Counties may be trigger-happy, and the towns must stop ticketing motorists while the lights are checked, the state Department of Transportation ordered Tuesday.

Cameras at intersections in Cherry Hill, Glassboro, Stratford, and Monroe, and 17 other New Jersey communities may be connected to traffic signals that are improperly calibrated, the department said.

The lights may not have a sufficiently long yellow phase to meet state requirements under a pilot program permitting 25 towns to install red-light cameras.

The yellow phase must be at least three seconds long if at least 85 percent of the approaching traffic travels less than 25 m.p.h. For every 5 m.p.h. increase in the prevailing speed above 30 m.p.h., the minimum duration of the yellow light must be increased by one half-second.

So a yellow light would have to be set at 4.5 seconds if the prevailing speed is 45 m.p.h.

The towns were ordered to analyze their lights, cameras, and traffic speeds by Aug. 1 to certify that the yellow phase meets the pilot program's standards.

Red-light cameras are in place at these intersections in Camden and Gloucester Counties:

Cherry Hill: Route 70 and Springdale Road.

Stratford: U.S. 30 and White Horse Road/Berlin Road.

Gloucester Township: Four locations on Blackwood-Clementon Road.

Deptford: Route 41 and Deptford Center Road.

Glassboro: Route 47 and Dalton Drive.

Monroe: Route 42 and U.S. 322/Sicklerville Road.