Executive Q&A: Scott Celley - Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

Business Bios
Slowing the cost of Safety
Phoenix Company Faces Challenges Quickly
By Tom Trush
While traffic tickets can deter dangerous driving,
limited resources in economically-strapped states
and municipalities make enforcing roadway safety
a challenge.
For more than 20 years, Redflex Traffic
Systems’ speed safety cameras and intersection
safety cameras have operated using self-funded
programs that do not come from taxpayer dollars
or government grants. As the largest provider
of road safety cameras in the United States, The
Phoenix-based company has installed its devices
in more than 250 communities in 21 states.
Shoba Vaitheeswaran, director of
communications for Redflex, stresses the
company’s safety cameras are not intended to
replace a police officer’s judgment. Instead,
they add an extra layer of automation and
technological precision on the roadside. The
authorization of a violation is left to an officer
who views evidence at the police station.
Greater: PHX
News & Notes From Around The Valley
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union donated $5,000 to Balsz
Elementary School to help fund programs that prepare students for
AIMS Math testing and ongoing education. The credit union also
donated six personal computers and four laser-jet printers to the school.
“This is a tough time for schools,” said Ron Amstutz, Desert Schools
FCU’s executive vice president. “As Arizona’s largest credit union,
we’re proud of our ongoing commitment to supporting local education.”
“This efficiency puts in motion a multiplier
effect,” she said. “Officers no longer need to use
precious time and resources to remain stationary
at the roadside, but can be redeployed to attend
to other serious crimes in that community. We
believe this leap forward in efficiency for law
enforcement can improve safety on many levels.”
Vaitheeswaran sees education as the biggest
challenge facing the company. The debate
most often addressed is who poses the greater
threat to freedom. Is it the red light runner
and the excessive speeder, or is it those in
law enforcement who work to stop the
dangerous behavior?
“There is certainly no question (the
dangerous driver) poses the greater threat to
our lives,” she said.
As for the industry’s future, Vaitheeswaran
says automated enforcement of bus lanes,
HOV lanes and double white lane crossing
funding the future
Credit Union Helps Prepare Students
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union Executive VP Ron Amstutz (left) presents a
check to Balsz Elementary School Principal Dr. Taime Bengochea, Ed.D.
28 IMPACT | SePTeMber 2010
are all possibilities. Also, due in part to cell
phones and the federal government’s focus
on driver distraction, more vehicle-toinfrastructure
communications is likely. This
wireless exchange of data is intended to avoid
motor vehicle crashes through real-time driver
warnings and other technologies.
Get connected
Redflex Traffic Systems
www.redflex.com
Balsz Elementary has been recognized by the Arizona Educational
Foundation (AEF) as one of 17 Arizona A+ Schools. The inner-city Phoenix
school serves more than 800 K-6th grade students in a diverse environment.
ALSO: Dr. Joyce Elsner, acting president of South+Mountain+
Community+College, will serve as interim president until a permanent
replacement is found, Maricopa Community Colleges Chancellor Dr.
Rufus Glasper announced in late July. Dr. Glasper said Dr. Elsner is willing
to serve as interim president for up to a year, as a national search for a
permanent president is conducted. Dr. David Rizik, MD, medical director
of invasive cardiology at Scottsdale+Healthcare, was profiled in the July/
August issue of Cardiac Interventions Today magazine. Dr. Rizik will travel
to Budapest, Hungary next month to help moderate an international
conference on complex coronary intervention, the 6th annual European
Bifurcation Club.
Get connected
Desert Schools federal credit Union
www.desertschools.org
South Mountain community college
www.southmountaincc.edu
Scottsdale Healthcare
www.shc.org
Redflex Traffic Systems hopes its cameras keep
motorists the very picture of health.
www.phoenixchamber.com