The Federal Way Police Department is seeking additional input from our citizens regarding a one-year pilot program for Red Light Photo Enforcement at two key intersections within the City of Federal Way.

A survey is featured on our city's website at www.cityoffederalway.com where citizens will be asked if they are for or against a one-year pilot program to determine the system's effectiveness and viability for Federal Way.

The results will be presented to the City Council Parks & Recreation/Public Safety Committee on August 14, 2007.

Nationally, 44 percent of injury crashes occur at intersections, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety research shows that motorists are more likely to be injured in crashes involving red light running than in other types of crashes, such as rear end collisions. Red light running is the leading cause of urban crashes according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

The Federal Way Police Department Traffic Unit has found that intersection violations are the most difficult traffic violation for police to identify and apprehend due to lack of available resources and the safety risk to the officer. The highest number of traffic accidents in our city, occur at or near intersections.

In the first 10 months of 2006, of the 1,621 collisions, 43 or 2.6 percent were side impact collisions in signal controlled intersections. A common complaint that the city administrators and the police department receive is the congested traffic flow in the city, due in large part to the blocked intersections and red light running.

Unlike random camera surveillance, photo enforcement is intended to capture a photo of the violation and license plate of the vehicle violating the law, capturing a specific vehicle as a result of a specific illegal action.

For more information regarding the survey and the one-year pilot program for Red Light Photo Enforcement, visit our website at www.cityoffederalway.com.