Council plans to enforce red light penalties on company cars

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - City Council members are hopeful to make the city’s red light cameras more powerful.

Currently, a city ordinance inadvertently allows drivers of company cars to avoid paying a $100 fine for running a red light. Instead, the fines are given to the owner of the car or the driver.

But officials aren’t always able to figure out who’s behind the wheel, especially in court.

Councilman John Sharp says he wants to revise the ordinance so that a red light violation is handled exactly like a parking ticket, where the owner is the only one responsible.

“It’s just kind of a no-brainer because the police department studies now do document that red light cameras work, they do change driver behavior,” Sharp said. “They do reduce the number of accidents and if we’re going to have them, let’s make it fair for everybody.”

Sharp says the city hopes to introduce the change next week.