WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Luke Waddell says it’s been high on his agenda since his election to the Wilmington City Council in 2021.

Now, it’s expected to be one of the hot topics on the agenda at next week’s council budget meeting.

The future of the city’s controversial red light camera program, first installed in the 1990s, is up in the air, with Waddell and fellow Councilman David Joyner leading an effort to end the program because of what They consider financial, legal and security concerns.

“I think it’s time to move on,” Waddell said inside the Skyline Center Thursday afternoon.

Wilmington is nearing the end of its agreement with American Traffic Solutions, an outside group that helps monitor the 13 cameras installed at the city’s intersections.

When drivers are ticketed for running a red light, they pay a $50 fine. But almost all of that money (90%) goes to New Hanover County schools. Waddell says the other 10% is supposed to pay the costs of the program, but he said last year alone, the cameras lost the city $300,000.

The councilman added that he would not advocate eliminating the program if he felt it helped keep Wilmington residents safe. Instead, an evaluation of the program by the city’s office of research and budget in April reveals that the presence of the cameras “has no statistically significant effect” on crash numbers. Rear-end crashes increase when a traffic light has a camera, the study found.

“Ultimately, for me it comes down to the question: Do these traffic cameras make us safer?” And the studies I’ve seen show that they have no statistical impact on making these intersections safer,” Joyner said.

Joyner also cited the potential legal implications of maintaining the program. Wilmington is now the only city in North Carolina to use red light cameras after the city of Raleigh did not renew its contract in April. New Hanover County’s assistant district attorney said it’s questionable whether the use of the cameras is even constitutional, given both the Sixth Amendment and due process concerns.

“If there are questions about the constitutionality of the statute that even allows SafeLight to operate in the state, in the city of Wilmington, then it’s something we need to consider whether or not we’re going to continue that relationship,” Joyner said.

The two councilors still have to convince their colleagues. In an email statement, Charlie Rivenbark said the program was never intended to make money, but was designed to make Wilmington’s roads safer. He says he has done just that.

“If the program burdens our other budgetary responsibilities, which I do not believe it will, then we should suspend it according to the process agreed upon in our contract,” Rivenbark’s statement read. “In my opinion, the system is needed now more than ever due to the tremendous increase in local traffic.”

If the city decides not to renew the contract, the city could have the option to take back and operate the cameras itself.

That decision could benefit the Wilmington Police Department, which primarily uses the cameras to investigate traffic collisions. Department spokesman Lt. Greg Willett said that while the cameras are “definitely” a help, removing them would not dramatically impact WPD’s ability to investigate.

Waddell said he is open to the idea of ​​keeping the cameras under city control, but for now he is focused on ensuring the contract is not renewed.

“We are the last city in the state of North Carolina to institute a red light camera program, it seems like a no-brainer that it is time to get rid of this program and move on,” he said.

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