Thinking of running that red light in Boise? Soon, you may be caught on camera

Idaho and the Boise area have seen a spate of traffic deaths and injuries. In January, the Idaho Transportation Department reported a 20-year high in traffic deaths, with over 270 people killed statewide in 2023. Most were people in vehicles, but pedestrian and bicyclist deaths nearly doubled from 2022, the Idaho Statesman previously reported .

Ada County was not immune, with 31 traffic deaths in 2023, according to the Transportation Department’s report. There were 13 fatal crashes in Boise in the same time period, compared with five in 2022.

Boise has identified one particular culprit of crashes: people running red lights. At a Tuesday meeting, City Council Member Luci Willits called it an “epidemic.”

When “a light turns green, you kind of sit there and make sure no one (is coming) through the intersection, because there’s so many that are happening,” she said.

Now the city plans to put up cameras at traffic intersections to catch red light runners in the act. On Tuesday, the City Council approved a licensing agreement with the Ada County Highway District, which governs the city’s roads. The agreement allows the city to pay for and install the cameras on ACHD-owned traffic signals.

The agreement is an “important first step” in the pilot program, Mayor Lauren McLean said during Tuesday’s meeting. Now, the city can flesh out the plan: how long the pilot program will last and where cameras will be installed.

These cameras aren’t new to Idaho, but Boise would be the first in the state to use them for enforcement – that is, to issue traffic tickets, said Bre Brush, the mayor’s transportation adviser. The cameras capture red light runners’ license plates, and then police review the images to determine whether a warning or citation is warranted.

Downtown Boise, Fairview Avenue, Vista Avenue and Overland Road have been hot spots for this problem, Brush told the council members. Police can cite people running red lights under multiple provisions of state law, which makes it challenging to quantify how often it happens. Most often, the issue is documented when it’s linked to a crash.

These cameras will help the city better document the frequency of these occurrences, Brush said, instead of requiring police officers to see the incident in real time and then chase the driver.

They’ll also help the city recreate crash scenes and evaluate whether design changes are needed at certain intersections. In the past, “we had to guess what happened,” piecing events together with eyewitness testimony or pulling footage from nearby convenience stores, Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton said.

“I think (the program) could be lifesaving,” Hallyburton said.

Council members framed the program as an assist to law enforcement officials. Hallyburton invited Officer Kyle Wills, a member of the city’s traffic fatality review task force , to weigh in. Wills spoke in support.

Council President Colin Nash, noting an uptick in assaults on police officers , views the cameras as a win-win.

“Anecdotally, what we’ve heard is officers’ concerns about interactions with the public that may become hostile,” he said. “I think we can help law enforcement, help keep them safe, help still address the compliance with our traffic laws.”

As of Tuesday, there was no timeline for when these new cameras would be introduced.

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