Congress Sours On Red Light Cameras

The Newspaper
by The Newspaper

At a congressional hearing Wednesday, members expressed increasingly skeptical views toward the safety claims made by the usual cast of advocates for photo enforcement. The US House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit invited five representatives of the familiar groups that advocate expanded use of red light cameras and speed cameras. In presentations before the committee and written testimony, however, members seemed to be more swayed by what the two camera opponents that appeared had to say.

“I had never heard, until I read the testimony, about people potentially tinkering with the yellow light period,” subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) explained in an interview following the hearing.

Cities in DeFazio’s congressional district, which covers the southwest corner of the state, have not embraced cameras. For that reason, DeFazio said he previously had not given much thought to the issue. The hearing was scheduled at the request of ranking member John J. Duncan (R-Tennessee). The city of Knoxville, which is in his district, uses cameras and has stirred up his constituents.

“A lot of people talked to me about it,” Duncan said. “In addition, it was a real controversial thing in the last session of the Tennessee legislature.”

Georgia state Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville) appeared before the committee to testify regarding the controversy in his state over the use of red light cameras and his proposed solution to the problems the machines raised.

“We started realizing that there was a questionable effect on safety,” Loudermilk said. “Accident rates have increased at several key intersections in the state… There was a financial incentive created by the use of red light cameras that local governments were no longer induced to seek out proven engineering methods to improve intersection safety. As a result, we passed House Bill 77… The key component of House Bill 77 was requiring an additional second to be added to the yellow time at any intersection that operates photo enforcement.”

The benefit of the change was immediate. Violations plunged up to 81 percent and several cities dumped their photo ticketing programs once they no longer were profitable. Dan Danila with the National Motorists Association pointed out how unpopular ticketing programs have been rejected in eleven cities and by fifteen states. DeFazio picked up on the unpopularity by noting that private companies like Redflex and American Traffic Solutions failed to appear at the hearing.

“We did invite vendors, and they refused,” DeFazio said during the hearing. “I thought of subpoenaing them, but we have lots of other things to do. I find it disturbing that none of them wanted to come and talk about what a great thing they’re doing for America here.”

DeFazio suggested he would like to see national legislation to address some of the problems. Such laws would only apply in cases where federal safety grants are distributed to localities to fund the use of automated ticketing machines.

“If you were going to use federal funds for automated traffic enforcement, we want to see that you’ve gone through a thoughtful process and evaluated other alternatives and that this is for safety, not revenue purposes,” DeFazio said after the hearing.

[Courtesy: thenewspaper.com]

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  • Thecavanaughs Thecavanaughs on Jul 01, 2010

    The feds should absolutely be involved in protecting Americans from overzealous enforcement of laws by state, county, and city. I don't think that is stepping on state rights- in fact, I think it is one of the most fundamental reasons to have a federal government in the first place. If "liberty and justice for all" were any more important, we'd make kids recite it every day while facing a flag.

    • See 3 previous
    • Signal11 Signal11 on Jul 01, 2010

      George B, Nah man, it's not. Not by the definition that you're using. You're free to move some place where the US Federal governments rules do not apply to you - another nation-state. It's just probably not within your means to do so. For those without the means to move from one locality to another, they're under the local monopoly of their local government. The vote with your feet argument is and always has been a complete wash if you choose to look both left and right before crossing this particular street.

  • MarcKyle64 MarcKyle64 on Jul 01, 2010

    If a municipality reduces the yellow light length to less than the Federal standard in order to increase camera enforcement revenue, then wouldn't I be justified in seeking charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire? The city will profit while people are injured and killed.

  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
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