BARTOW, Fla. (WFLA) — New red light cameras are now in use at eight separate intersections in the City of Bartow.

“Highway 60 and highway 98 and 17 that come through our city, there’s dangerous intersections and if you sit there and watch you’ll see people routinely run red lights,” said Bartow Police Chief Stephen Walker.

Drivers will notice clearly placed signs alerting them these 16 separate cameras are in use.
The city hopes these measures will help with road safety.

“There are blatant violators of running red lights. It doesn’t make any difference what kind of vehicle they’re driving,” said Bartow city manager Mike Herr.

The fine from one of these red light cameras is $158 per offense. $75 of that amount is kept by the City of Bartow. This has drawn some comments online accusing the city of just trying to make money.

“No, it’s a way to make the roadway network in Bartow safer for everybody,” said Herr.

Despite studies showing rear end crashes increase in intersections using red light cameras, the city believes the program will help decrease more severe collisions.

“Those same studies also show a reduction in angle crash, which are like your t-bone crashes, your more serious crashes that cause more serious injuries,” said Chief Walker

The cameras are operational 24/7 beginning Monday. A warning period is in place through May 21, then violators will be ticketed.