180-plus tickets issued in first 2 weeks of red light cameras in Sudbury, Ont.

Red light cameras in the City of Greater Sudbury caught 182 violators in the first two weeks of operation.

The cameras were installed at six intersections. The technology records information about drivers who fail to stop for red lights.

The tickets were sent out for the period between Sept. 21 and Oct. 5. Each ticket carries a fine of $325.

"In an ideal setting we wouldn't have issued any tickets," said Joe Rocca, acting director of infrastructure and capital planning in Greater Sudbury.

"We would have a situation where everyone obeys traffic laws and they're obeying what a traffic signal tells them and that's the ideal state for us and that's where we're hoping this ultimately leads us," he said.

Roccadoesn't think people are intentionally running lights, but the tickets might remind them of the importance of obeying traffic signals.

"I don't think anyone ever leaves the house and goes for a drive and thinks I'm going to run a bunch of red lights. I think this points to a lot of different factors in peoples' day-to-day," he said.

Rocca explained that the number of tickets averages out to someone going througha red light every two hours for those two weeks.

The City of Greater Sudbury pays a fee to the City of Toronto for processing offences.

Images from the cameras are reviewed by a provincial offence officer in Toronto's joint processing centre.

The infraction is reviewed and certified and then a ticket is issued to the owner of the vehicle using the licenceplate information regardless of who was driving.

The red light cameras are a City of Greater Sudbury initiative, but a spokesperson for Greater Sudbury Police Service issued a comment in an email to CBC.

"Road safety is a shared commitment and we continue to work with our community partners including the City of Greater Sudbury in order to address areas and situations of concern," the statement said.

"Motorists are reminded to plan ahead when travelling in order to reduce the desire to speed on our roadways. Give yourself plenty of time to get where you are going, slow down, obey the speed limits, leave space between you and the vehicle in front of you and never operate a vehicle when you are impaired."