It could be lights out soon on South Florida's red light cameras.
Officials say the tickets being issued by the cameras are becoming too costly to enforce, with some cities actually losing money on them as drivers who fight the tickets are winning in court.
Cities in Palm Beach and Broward counties have had to devote more attorneys and police to pursue the tickets as they spend thousands more than they are collecting.
"The rulings have been going against us, and it's been very labor-intensive for our department," Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley told the Sun-Sentinel.
The network of cameras from Fort Lauderdale to Pembroke Pines were installed to much fanfare and were supposed to bring in millions of dollars in revenue, but have become more trouble than they're worth.
Pembroke Pines has received $76,294 from citations, but the red-light camera program has cost $83,337. Legal fees encompassed $33,189 of that, with the rest going to American Traffic Solutions, which has contracts across Broward and Palm Beach counties to manage the cameras.
The failures there have cities like Boca Raton and Delray Beach delaying plans to install cameras. But in Boynton Beach, officials are moving ahead with their plans to install intersection cameras.
And in Hallandale Beach, Mayor Joy Cooper says they'll keep the red light camera program going.
"For me, it has always been a safety issue period," Cooper said. "We have cameras in our parks and other public facilities, and this is a natural progression of technology to enforce our laws. We have busy roadways and a lot of pedestrians, and I believe it will make the roads safer."
