Police to receive tech help to enforce stoplights

MLPD tries to put stop to drivers paying no mind to red lights

Many motorists in Moses Lake are seeing red, and not caring about it.

Continuous complaints to the Moses Lake Police Department regarding drivers running red lights or failing to yield at intersections have led the MLPD to take a more profound look into the matter.

MLPD chief Fred Haynes said that his department will undergo an assessment of intersections in order to know on which areas to focus. That way, by the time the detectors arrive, he said, the department will have a better idea of problem zones.

The assessment will be based on three points, he said, intersections that create the most accidents, intersections that generate the most complaints, and intersections facing the heaviest daily traffic flow.

Some troublesome intersections include Valley and Stratford, Pioneer and Hill, Fifth Avenue and Division, Broadway and Alder, as well as a number of downtown crosses.

Still, Haynes said you could pick out any intersection and classify it as bad.

"Some are worse than others because of traffic flow," he said.

Though there is no timetable on the project, or on when the $100 detectors are going to arrive, Haynes said the department plans to start out with five detectors.

The way the detectors work, Haynes said, is they are wired into the electrical components of the signal. When the light goes through the signal, the sensors on the detectors will pick up the vehicle committing the infraction at the time the light changes to red.

If a vehicle is picked up by the sensors, a light will be activated, indicating the violation. The light can be seen up to 200 yards away, depending on where it is located.

Motorists running red lights is a year-round concern for the MLPD, Haynes said, calling it one of the leading causes of accidents. The importance of the detectors is it allows some intersections to not have to be monitored by an officer all the time.

The effect of the sensors on the motorists will hopefully be twofold, Haynes said, giving people the ability to tell when somebody runs a red light, so they can call the police department's tip line. At the same time, he said it might give the driver a reminder that the light let everyone know he or she just ran a red light.

"Maybe that will create a sort of embarrassment," he said. "It will not just be an enforcement tool, but a safety tool and a visual reminder." Haynes said that with or without detectors, there are always motorists who are in a hurry and just do not care.

In the big picture, Haynes said that he hoped the sensors will help the MLPD regain control of people who blatantly are running red lights, and hence, reduce accidents.

"We are grasping at just about everything that can help," he said.