All red light cameras to be digital by June 2015

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/all-red-light-cameras-to/1463682.html

Red light cameras using film will be phased out entirely by June next year, the Traffic Police said.

About 120 11-megapixel digital red light cameras have been installed across the island since March this year.

A further 120 digital cameras will replace all the remaining wet film-based red light cameras by mid-2015, the Traffic Police said on Monday (Nov 10).

The deployments would include the top five junctions with the highest number of red-light violations:

• Lornie Road and Sime Road, towards Adam Road
• Woodlands Avenue 12 and Avenue 1, towards Seletar Expressway
• Victoria Street by Rochor Road, towards Lavender Street
• Victoria Street and Arab Street, towards Lavender Street
• Adam Road and Sime Road, towards Lornie Road

The digital versions offer better resolution and clarity, and can transmit image data directly from the site to the authorities. They can operate around the clock, unlike film cameras which can run out of film, they added.

Signage have also been rolled out at these junctions, warning motorists that they are entering a Traffic Police Camera Zone.

While violations by red-light beaters have increased steady since 2011, Traffic Police attribute the sharp 37.4 per cent spike in violations from March to September this year (25,833, up from 18,796 for the whole of 2013) to the enhanced capabilities of such cameras.

They added the hope is that the new cameras will deter red-light beaters, and that drivers will approach traffic junctions with due care. Such efforts appear to be paying off, with Traffic Police figures showing a downward trend in fatal traffic accidents since 2011.

Fatalities involving vehicles running red lights dropped from 12 in 2011 to eight in 2013, and just four from January to September 2014.