New Red Light Camera Up And Running In West Oak Lane
By Ileana Diaz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Fines for running a red light are now in effect at the intersection of Stenton and Ogontz Avenues in West Oak Lane.
"I hate the red light cameras," driver Eric Chiles said.
FULL LIST: Red Light Camera Locations in Philadelphia
"The city is always out to get money," driver Justin Dowell said.
That's the reaction when you ask about Philadelphia red light cameras, and now, there is one more on the corner of Ogontz and Stenton Avenues. It's the intersection where Mount Airy, West Oak Lane and Germantown all meet.
"There has been a few accidents here. And then there's the children, we have three day centers in the area so it's very good to monitor," driver Jada Dixon said.
Officials from the Philadelphia Parking Authority say this is a very busy intersection. There's a church, a school, homes and even businesses all within a short distance from each other.
"There's a lot of speeding and people going around people so it's definitely a good thing," Dixon said.
Not everyone thinks so. If you run a red light here you'll now pay a $100 fine. And that quickly adds up. In the last seven years, the City of Philadelphia collected $72 million dollars from drivers, many of them caught at this popular intersection near City Hall and also here at Broad and Vine Street.
"That's too much money, that's taking advantage of the citizens of Philadelphia if you ask me," Dowell said.
"They give out a lot of tickets, Philadelphia's greedy," Chiles said.
But when you see the numbers, Philadelphia only has 26 intersections with red light cameras compared to New York that has 70 and Chicago with 172, and some believe more may not be so bad.
"People are going to get tickets and they're going to start slowing down," Dixon said.
And the installation of red light cameras isn't slowing down. There are more popping up even in suburbs. Abington will have three intersections up and running by early May.
