The D.C. police have a red-light camera deployed at the corner of Nebraska Avenue and Fessenden Street NW, not far from Fort Reno Park. This red-light camera has managed to annoy many drivers, including local ones, as red-light cameras are wont to do. Also unsurprisingly, a lot of these drivers have "complained loudly" to police and at community meetings about the capriciousness of the camera, according to an email sent out yesterday by Marlene Berlin, the head of Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action (CAPA).

So Lisa Sutter, the D.C. police department's head of traffic photo enforcement, went straight to the records. Since the unit utilizes sensors placed inside the pavement, she was able to provide statistics to Berlin on how the violations played out on one day, Feb. 24. If you're a traffic safety nerd, the breakdown is kind of interesting.

According to Berlin's email...

• 74% of the vehicles captured are in violation of the statute, which states that a vehicle shall not enter the intersection or the crosswalk when facing a steady red signal

• 11% of the violations were vehicles traveling through the intersection without stopping, at or above the posted speed limit

• 24% of the violations were drivers who did not stop before turning right, including two who did so from the left lane

• 41% of the drivers stopped, but did so by completely blocking the crosswalk

• Of the 26% of the vehicles captured, they missed falling into the category of blocking the crosswalk by a very slim margin, with virtually all of their car over the stop bar (our issuance criteria is to have the rear tires completely over the stop bar and since this is a slanted intersection, these had one tire that didn’t make it over)

Point is, you don't have to completely blow through an intersection to get popped by a red-light camera. And, frankly, you shouldn't have to. It's pretty dangerous to barrel into an area designated for pedestrians, even if you eventually manage to come to a stop. My guess is a lot of those folks in the 41% who "stopped but did so by completely blocking the crosswalk" had been speeding and jammed on the brakes when they spotted the camera.

Anyway, irate drivers shouldn't expect much sympathy from Sutter. Her next plan is to train the cameras on drivers who fail to fully stop at stop signs or yield to pedestrians. So get ready for more loud complaints.