Senate committee approves bill that would place cameras at traffic signals
HARRISBURG – In the future, it’s possible that just because a police officer doesn’t see you go through that red light, doesn’t mean you’ll be in the clear. If a local lawmaker has his way, cameras may soon be installed at traffic signals to catch drivers trying to beat the light. Violators would be fined up to $100.
The state Senate Transportation Committee last week voted 9-5 in support of the controversial legislation, sponsored by Sen. J. Barry Stout (D-Bentleyville) and others. It’s now under consideration by the full Senate.
Police and city officials in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are pushing for the legislation. Red light violations are the cause of about 75 percent of all crashes in urbanized areas, according to a 1998 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
In areas that used cameras, the number of drivers running red lights has been reduced by 65 percent. Statewide, drivers running red lights caused more than 7,000 crashes in 2000, according to the state Department of Transportation.
“Cameras are a tool for traffic safety and can aid police officers in protecting citizens in the Commonwealth,” said Amy Corl, executive director of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.
But civil rights activists have concerns.
“It really assumes you’re guilty if you’re the owner of the vehicle,” said Larry Frankel, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. “It’s up to you to prove you were not driving the vehicle or that the system was malfunctioning, and that seems contrary to the legal system in this country. The burden should be on the government to prove you violated the law, and not you.”
The cameras also may be another step down the slippery slope toward less privacy, the ACLU warns. Although photographs will be taken of the back of the vehicle only, Frankel said they create “a potential for Big Brother.”
“We know once the cameras are installed, the next round of lobbying will be, ‘We’ve got the cameras in place. We ought to use them more often to track people,'” he said.
More than a dozen states permit red-light cameras, but a handful prohibit them.
Pennsylvania’s proposed law seeks to address some of the biggest complaints about the cameras by banning tinkering with the yellow-light change interval, preventing municipalities from using the camera as a revenue booster (cameras can generate only up to 5 percent of a community’s revenue) and not compensating the camera system vendor based on the number of citations issued.
Local municipalities must adopt an ordinance in order to use the cameras. Tickets will not automatically be mailed to violators. A police officer must first review the photo and certify that a violation occurred.
A ticket will be treated the same as a parking ticket. The violation will not be part of an individual’s operating record and cannot be used for insurance purposes. The records will be destroyed after one year.
The Senate and House both must approve the bill and the governor must sign it in order for it to become law.