This summer the intersection of Scarborough Road and North DuPont Highway will become the seventh in Dover to have a red light camera.

    Last year, the state legislature approved 10 new red light camera locations, with one in Kent County, said Darrel Cole, spokesman for the Delaware Department of Transportation. The locations are based on traffic crashes and red light running histories statewide from 2002 to 2007 as well as the physical design of the intersection.

    “Basically they were the 10 worst after the ones that already have gotten red light cameras,” he said of the intersections.

    The new Dover intersection had to get approval from local legislators Sens. Bruce C. Ennis, D-Clayton, and Brian J. Bushweller, D-Dover North, and Rep. William J. Carson, D-Smyrna, who have all signed off on the project, Cole said.

    “The red light cameras have a very good record of reducing red light violations and the more we reduce red light violations, the fewer crashes we have,” Bushweller said, later adding, “I’ll betcha it’s saved lives.”

    Capt. James Hosfelt of the Dover Police Department said the project has been sent to the company that runs the state’s Electronic Red Light Safety Enforcement Program for review, and they are expecting the camera will be put in sometime this summer.

    Cole said the public will be notified well in advance of the camera’s installation and a sign will be posted.

    The Dover Police Department helps monitor and control Dover’s cameras, which Hosfelt said have caused a significant number of citations.

    The $112.50 citation is considered a civil offense, not a criminal one, which means there is no impact on insurance rates or driving record, according to a DelDOT press release. The red light program began in 2005 when 20 cameras were installed statewide; 16 of those intersections have experienced a decrease in total crashes.

    Each intersection is well marked with signs a red light camera is in use, Hosfelt said, but people still either don’t pay attention or decide to go through the light anyway.

    There usually is a large number of people caught when the camera first becomes operational, but that drops off later, he added.

    In its preliminary forecasts for next year, the city of Dover has budgeted slightly more revenue from the red light cameras due to the Scarborough Road light’s addition, as reported at a previous city council meeting. However, Hosfelt emphasized the program is more about safety than money made.

     “We’re hoping people are aware of the cameras,” he said, “and that helps to slow them down and get them to stop.”

    The fines are used to pay for a camera’s fixed monthly cost of $4,390 and per-citation cost of $13.50. The remainder goes to the municipality that oversees the camera, with no less than 60% to be spent on public and roadway safety improvement, according to a DelDOT press release.

Email Jayne Gest at jayne.gest@doverpost.com