Red Light Camera Tickets in New Jersey: Why the Program Ended

New Jersey used red light cameras only during a five-year pilot that ended in 2014, and no camera in the state can issue a ticket now. This article is part of the reference on how New Jersey traffic tickets work. It explains what the Red Light Running program was, how a camera ticket was issued, what it cost, why the program shut down, and how a red light violation is handled in New Jersey today.

Does New Jersey have red light cameras today?

No. New Jersey’s red light camera program was a temporary pilot, not a permanent law. As of December 16, 2014, the 73 camera intersections operating in 24 participating municipalities lost the statutory authority to capture violations, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation confirmed the program had ended. Towns were directed to disconnect the systems and remove the camera-warning signs.

Because the authorizing statute expired rather than being renewed, no municipality, county, or state agency in New Jersey can issue a red light camera ticket for a violation that happens today. A camera ticket could only ever be issued for a violation actually recorded on or before December 16, 2014.

How the Red Light Running pilot program worked

The Legislature created the program in 2007, declaring that camera monitoring could encourage drivers to obey signals and reduce intersection crashes, under N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.12. The enabling law was signed on January 13, 2008, and the first cameras began capturing violations on December 16, 2009, according to the NJDOT program overview.

A municipality could not simply install cameras. It applied to the Commissioner of Transportation, identified specific high-violation intersections, and certified that each approach had a yellow (amber) light lasting at least three seconds under N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.14. The governing body then passed an ordinance, posted signs warning drivers that a camera was in use, and had the municipal engineer inspect the system every six months.

The systems captured high-resolution images and a video clip showing a vehicle entering the intersection on red, along with the license plate, as defined in N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.13. A vendor screened the images first, and a sworn municipal police officer then reviewed each one and decided whether to issue a summons. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.15, the officer had 90 days from the date of the violation to issue the ticket, a limit the NJDOT frequently asked questions page also describes.

What a camera ticket cost, and what it did not do to your record

A camera violation was charged under the ordinary traffic-signal statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-81, and carried a total penalty of $85, a $55 fine plus $18.50 in court costs and several small statutory assessments, according to the NJDOT FAQ. The municipality kept the fine and sometimes split it with the county.

The feature that set camera tickets apart was their effect on a driving record. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.15, no motor vehicle points and no automobile insurance eligibility points could be assessed for a camera violation. The New Jersey MVC points schedule still lists this explicitly: a Section 39:4-81 signal violation is normally two points, but the red light camera version is zero.

That distinction matters because points drive the downstream costs of a New Jersey ticket. Point-carrying moving violations can push a driver toward a New Jersey MVC surcharge and higher insurance rates, and the most serious offenses, such as a first-offense DWI in New Jersey, carry license and insurance consequences far beyond the fine. A camera ticket avoided the points path entirely.

Why New Jersey’s red light camera program ended

The program ended because it was written as a five-year experiment. N.J.S.A. 39:4-8.14 directed the Commissioner of Transportation to run a “five-year pilot program,” and the NJDOT overview confirms the authority expired on December 16, 2014, five years after the first cameras went live. The Legislature did not pass a bill extending or making the program permanent, so the authority lapsed.

The pilot was also contested while it ran. In 2012, NJDOT suspended the entire program on July 19, 2012 over questions about whether yellow-light timing at some approaches complied with the statute, then reinstated it on July 25, 2012 after municipalities certified their timing, as the NJDOT FAQ explains. Debate over fairness, revenue, and safety data continued through the pilot’s final year, and no renewal followed.

How red light violations are handled in New Jersey now

A driver who runs a red light in New Jersey today can still be ticketed, but by a police officer who observes it rather than by a camera. That in-person violation is charged under N.J.S.A. 39:4-81, and the MVC points schedule assigns it two points on the driver’s record, unlike the zero-point camera tickets of the pilot era. Points from an officer-issued signal ticket can affect insurance rates and, combined with other violations, a driver’s license.

An officer-issued ticket is handled in the municipal court named on the summons, where a driver can pay it or plead not guilty and contest it. The broader rules on points, court, and penalties are covered in the reference on how New Jersey traffic tickets work.