Two residents in New Haven have died so far this year in traffic-related incidents, according to city officials.
On Monday, the city outlined a proposal of new technology to keep that number from climbing.
New Haven is looking to be the first city in the state to green-light traffic safety cameras.
“We're walkers, we walk around here all the time so there is constantly people blowing the lights or doing a right on red and we are in the middle of walking,” Lynette Shahrabi, of North Haven, said while out for a lunchtime walk near Yale New Haven Hospital.
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The city is planning the placement of 19 speed enforcement or red-light cameras scattered around the city in high-traffic accident locations.
Residents out and about Monday were in favor of the proposal if it slows drivers down.
“There are a few intersections in New Haven that are pretty dangerous so I think that's a place where they'd be warranted,” Michael Digiovanna said.
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New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said slowing drivers down is part of the goal.
“I believe this is a good tool, it’s a fair tool and it’s something that will make New Haven a safer place,” Jacobson said.
Eleven locations would receive red-light cameras and eight locations would receive speed safety cameras. According to officials, the eight speed cameras would largely be located near schools.
“You have to justify based on data, the number of crashes, etc.,” Mayor Justin Elicker said of the locations picked for the first 19 cameras.
The technology would record license plates, date, time and location of traffic violations. For the first 30 days the cameras are installed, the system would send warnings to car owners.
After the 30 days, first-time offenders would be hit with a $50 fine, and all subsequent offenses would mean a $75 fine. The fines would be sent to the car owner, not the operator.
“If you run a red light, if you speed, you will get caught,” Elicker said.
Some still have concerns about the rollout of the technology.
“Do we want our streets to be safer, and traffic to be safer and our people to be safer? Of course we do, but we want to make sure that it's fair, that it's equitable, and if you do something like this, it’s not just generating revenue for the city,” Dori Dumas, president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, said.
The NAACP’s concerns for the technology include a disproportionate impact on inner-city communities, and a financial burden that would come with violations.
She told the city that the NAACP would like to see the data back up the locations of the cameras, but that has not been presented to them yet.
Dumas said she hasn’t had a chance to check the latest proposal outlined by the city, but was involved early in the city’s planning, and raises the same concerns to all municipalities considering this technology.
"We do feel like it can and most likely will disproportionately impact those in the inner city more than anyone else and we don’t want to see that,” Dumas said.
The proposal first needs the go-ahead from the Board of Alders, and that process would include a public input session. Then, the proposal needs a green light from the state Department of Transportation before the cameras can be installed and used.
