ENCINITAS, Calif. (KGTV) – The City of Encinitas could be taking the next step toward installing red light cameras at city intersections on Wednesday.
The City Council will decide how to direct staff on how it should move forward with implementing the tech on Encinitas intersections.
“I am open-minded about red light cameras. I think they could help,” Mayor Bruce Ehlers said.
Now, the red-light camera conversation was supposed to be heard last week.
But Ehlers told ABC 10News the conversation was moved after more data was found on previous red-light cameras at two intersections that they wanted public to be able to see.
A city staff report showed Encinitas had the cameras until May 2020.
“They had a lot of really good data on what in essence was a 16-year pilot program already. And it shows that they're effective at those intersections,” Ehlers said.
Advocates have been calling for the camera systems for quite a while now.
“It would be a big step towards hopefully saving some lives and creating some structure around expectations of driver behavior in our city,” Laura Van Dusen, a founding member of Safe Streets Encinitas, said.
ABC 10News has spoken to Van Dusen and her group about their fight to get the green light for red light cameras in Encinitas following the death of 12-year-old Emery Chalakian.
“I'm friends with the Chalakian family. Emery Chalakian was a 12-year-old girl who was hit and killed by a red-light runner in April of 2025. So, yes, this is worth spending money on,” Van Dusen said.
Ehlers told ABC 10News he has a couple of questions before telling staff how to move forward. One is getting clarity on how much someone would be charged for a red-light ticket.
“Number two, what's the cost of the city? We want to make sure that it's not exorbitant. How many intersections can we practically cover and will, you know, last time we had approval to do the city moved forward with approval for 10, they chose to only do two,” Ehlers said.
There’s hope from red-light camera advocates there will be positive steps forward toward getting the cameras.
“We'll keep pushing and we'll keep advocating to have an impact and make our streets safer,” Van Dusen said.
