A planned expansion of the city's red-light camera program would put more cameras on the streets and hand more severe penalties to drivers who run stoplights.
In a recently released report, Toronto's Pubic Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends raising the fine for running a red, which is currently set at $180, to $500.
Other suggested penalties include suspending the licence plates of vehicles associated with multiple convictions and publishing the plate numbers of those that have been caught running red lights. However, both of these measures would require provincial approval in addition to City Hall's endorsement.
Ten red light cameras have been rotating among 37 Toronto intersections for nearly eight years. Pending council's approval, the number of cameras will be increased to 98 by the end of 2009, which will rotate between 169 intersections.
With operating and expansion costs combined, the program's 2008 price tag will be about $3 million. City Hall expects the cameras to pay for themselves through fines.
Members of the committee will consider the report at a meeting on Wednesday.
Put in place to deter drivers from rushing through intersections, the cameras are supposed to save lives. Public works committee chairperson Glenn De Baeremaeker says they are working.
"The amazing thing we found is that T-bone (collisions) have gone down 60 per cent in a five-year period," he told CTV Toronto. "Where you have an intersection with red light cameras, fewer people are killed, fewer people are injured and we have fewer car accidents."
However, a Florida study released in March -- partially based on data from Toronto -- says the cameras actually increase accidents. It found drivers were more likely to be rear-ended after slamming on the breaks to avoid being caught on camera.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay-Markson
