Whoa! Red-light camera in Longview takes a tumble — again

Problems with a malfunctioning red-light camera on Spur 63 and Marshall Avenue were compounded Wednesday morning when it was knocked over by a motor vehicle for the second time in a little more than a month.

Sgt. Buddy Molpus, the traffic section supervisor with the Longview Police Department, said a customer was backing out of a parking space at Jucys Hamburgers and ran over the breakaway metal structure holding the camera.

He did not identify the driver, but said a video camera lens was broken, as well as the glass on the box that holds the camera.

On April 5, the same camera was hit by a man backing out of Jucys. Only the pole holding the camera was damaged in that incident.

The new red-light cameras have resulted in 45 mailed notices of violation from May 1 through 15, according to Sgt. Shaun Pendleton.

But they have all come from the two other assemblies — stationed on the southeast intersection of Spur 63 and Marshall Avenue and at Loop 281 and Fourth Street.

"We have been experiencing technical problems with that (Jucys) camera and as a result, there have been no notices of violation sent out for the period," Pendleton said.

Molpus said concrete pillars had been placed around the camera briefly, but the Texas Department of Transportation had them removed, since they were on state-maintained right of way.

"We did ask the city to remove the pillars because (concrete) won't break away safely if a vehicle hits it," said Larry Krantz, spokesman for the transportation department.

"The state cannot allow anything on its rights of way which could cause serious injuries or fatalities. Even traffic signal (poles) are designed to break away upon impact."

The camera assemblies were installed, owned and maintained by Redflex Traffic Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Each camera site costs $4,870 per month for enforcement, which is paid by revenue collected from violations, Pendleton said earlier this month.

He said Wednesday that his contact with the company was unsure whether the monthly charge would apply to the malfunctioning camera, but the city would not incur fees regardless.

A spokesman for the company did not return calls Wednesday.