City, activist at odds over cameras
The red-light camera debate has moved from the city to the suburbs. Sugar Land has cameras set up in three locations. H.F. Van Der Grinten isn't a fan of the cameras.
“They’re unfair to the driving public,” says the man known as ‘Captain Van.’ “They’ve turned the traffic light into a crapshoot and the odds are all in favor of the city.
Van Der Grinten
Van Der Grinten disputes the city’s stance that the cameras are there to reduce accidents. He thinks the motive behind it is money.
“They earn revenue of the police department. One-third of the fine goes to the Sugar Land Police Department.”
So the man known as Captain Van took his fight to the streets earlier this week, staging a one-man protest and handing out fliers to other drivers.
For their art, city officials are standing by the red-light program. City spokesman Doug Adolph told KTRH the cameras are doing what they are supposed to do.
Adolph said, “We believe the cameras are effective. We use them as an enforcement tool. We can’t have police officers at every intersection.”
Sugar Land has cameras in three locations, and unlike here in Houston, there are no current plans to take the cameras down. But they are continuing to monitor the program’s results.
“If we see compliance improve at those locations we’ll evaluate whether or not we still need to have the cameras at those locations,” Adolph said.
In the meantime, if you run a red light in Sugar Land and get caught, be prepared to write a check for 75 dollars.
