No WhiteWash!

Bluff City is a city without a mayor or vice mayor.  In fact they have had four mayors resign over the past two years.   Warning, they want your money.

BRISTOL, Tenn. — While Bristol Motor Speedway officials are fretting that Bluff City’s new speed cameras on U.S. Highway 11E might upset and alienate unsuspecting race visitors, city officials said Wednesday that the controversial detectors will be operating during the March 19-21 race weekend. Read more via Bristol fans, beware: Cameras will be on Speedway weekend » Knoxville News Sentinel.

Louisiana legislators propose a series of measures to ban traffic cameras or put them to a public vote.

Local governments that use red light cameras and speed cameras would be forced put the future of these efforts to a public vote under a proposal by a team of Louisiana state lawmakers. Led by Representative Jeff Arnold (D-Algiers), a bipartisan team of seven on Monday pre-filed legislation to rein in the use of automated enforcement systems.

Arnold’s preference is to ban them outright with House Bill 160, but he prepared an alternative measure designed to be more attractive to his colleagues with close ties to local government. House Bill 159 would require a referendum before any automated ticketing machine could issue fines in a local city or parish.

via Louisiana Lawmaker Proposes Local Votes For All Traffic Camera Programs.

 Avondale, Arizona cancels photo enforcement after it failed to generate accident reduction or profit.

Avondale, Arizona last week decided to terminate its contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) for the operation of red light cameras and speed cameras. The city council made its decision primarily on financial grounds after the program failed to deliver on its promise of enhanced safety and substantial profit. With Avondale facing a $3.8 million budget deficit, officials decided the cameras had to go.

"The largest reduction in budgeted appropriations comes from the camera traffic enforcement program," Avondale Finance Director Kevin Artz wrote in a February 8 memo to the council. "The police department has assessed the effectiveness of the program and determined that potentially the program costs outweigh the benefits. With the total costs of the program exceeding the revenue and little change in accident rate, staff recommends that council consider eliminating or suspending the program."

The city allowed ATS to deploy two red light cameras and one mobile speed camera van. Over the past two years, ATS issued 6326 photo citations, with the number of tickets issued down 46 percent in 2009. While some cities would trumpet this reduction as evidence of the benefit of camera use, Avondale provided a different explanation.

"In June 2009 the decision was made to discontinue photo enforcement at intersections for failing to stop turning right on a red light," Police Chief Kevin Kotsur wrote. "This was based on a review of the previous year’s accident rate that revealed there were no traffic accidents caused by a vehicle failing to stop on a red light turning right at an intersection… This decision appears to account for the majority of this decrease."

Since the economic recession took hold in 2007, traffic volumes have dropped nationwide. As a result, traffic fatalities have hit all-time lows. Since the beginning of the recession, fatal crashes have dropped 14.7 percent across the country. The half-mile radius surrounding Avondale’s camera locations only saw a 7 percent drop in accidents. Areas farther from the cameras experienced a more significant drop in the number of crashes.

The city budget did estimate that cameras would generate $318,610 in net revenue for the city, but Kotsur noted that indirect costs associated with the program would mean the city would wind up losing $80,000. Avondale’s contract was set to expire on September 19, 2010, but an early termination clause allowed cancellation without penalty to the city. A copy of the city council memo is available in a 260k PDF file at the source link below.

 Source: Budgetary Update and Strategy Discussion (City of Avondale, Arizona, 2/8/2010)

via Arizona: City Dumps Money Losing Traffic Cameras.

As Tennessee lawmakers question whether photo enforcement companies should be regulated, a pending court case could decide the question.

As members of the Tennessee General Assembly consider whether to impose new regulations on photo enforcement vendors in the state, a pending court challenge seeks the enforcement of existing regulatory statutes against the firms. The state House Transportation Committee yesterday held a hearing that examined how Lasercraft, a company based in Bridlington, England, operates red light cameras on behalf of the city of Knoxville. State Representative Ben West, Jr. (D-Hermitage) questioned why this company is not regulated by the state

Read more via Tennessee: Camera Company Challenged on PI License Issue.

A 2006 attorney general ruling and a 2009 law ensure photo enforcement remains illegal in South Carolina.
Earlier this year the South Carolina General Assembly enacted a law that will make it even more difficult for red light camera and speed camera vendors to attempt to do business in the state. Under a provision that took effect on April 9, police are authorized to replace traditional handwritten citations with "electronic traffic tickets" designed to speed the roadside ticketing process. These electronic citations, however, cannot be used as part of a photo enforcement system.

Read more via Photo Enforcement Illegal in South Carolina.

One thing that does bother me with photo enforcement is if someone borrowed my car tag and put it on another car which was just like mine.  Or take a picture of my car tag,  print a good quality digital reproduction and put it on a similar vehicle.  I can’t claim my car was reported stolen since they just borrowed my tag and returned it and I was not aware of it .  I can’t claim someone else was driving and it looks like I have no recourse.  I can just see the discussion now.  Is this your tag number?  Yes!  Do you drive a green 1951 Ford?  Yes!  Did anyone else drive your car on that day?  No, it was parked in my driveway all night!   Was your car stolen and did you file a police report?   No, when I went to sleep, it was in my driveway and it was there the next morning when I went to work!   In this case it you decide to take it to court and lose, then you get the points and higher insurance rates.

As the Kingsport BMA debates the future of red-light revenue cameras, I wonder how they would feel if the above happen to them.

See over 90 posts from this blog concerning Red-Light Cameras

Voters in College Station, Texas as well as Chillicothe and Heath, Ohio vote to ban automated ticketing machines.

Voters in three cities sent a clear message to local lawmakers yesterday by adopting charter amendments that ban photo enforcement. In addition to kicking two camera supporters from the city council, 72 percent of those voting in Chillicothe, Ohio approved a total prohibition on the use of red light cameras and speed cameras. In College Station, Texas the vote was much closer, but at the end of the night 52 percent wanted the red light cameras to come down. In Heath, Ohio 51 percent voted against the cameras. A total of nine cities nationwide have used the initiative process to ban camera enforcement since 1991, with camera proponents never having won a public vote.

Read more via Photo Enforcement Defeated at the Ballot Box in Texas, Ohio.

This is a sure way to not get re-elected and a recall of the mayor and the city council In Chillicothe Ohio.

Mayor of Chillicothe, Ohio demands that state supreme court intervene to prevent voters from deciding the fate of speed cameras.

An Ohio city is so desperate to prevent voters from having a say on the future of speed cameras that it filed a motion Monday asking the state supreme court to strip the public of its right to vote on the issue. In April, residents submitted more than double the number of signatures required to place a photo enforcement referendum on the November ballot (view initiative text). The move so infuriated Mayor Joseph Sulzer that he challenged the ballot with the Ross County Board of Elections earlier this month. Sulzer insists the board had no right to reject this challenge.

Read more via Ohio City Asks Supreme Court to Stop Camera Referendum.

Citizen referendum efforts put red light camera and speed camera companies on the defensive in Arizona, Ohio and Texas.

Camera referendum logosPetitions placing the fate of red light cameras and speed cameras in the hands of voters are circulating across the country. In November, photo enforcement bans are likely to be considered in three Ohio cites and two Texas cities. Every Arizona jurisdiction may have a chance to vote in November 2010.

Read more via Citizen Petitions Put Photo Enforcement Companies on the Defensive.

Members of the Tennessee General Assembly misled into voting to authorize state-run freeway work zone speed camera program.

Sen Tim BurchettThe Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation authorizing the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and Tennessee Highway Patrol to ticket motorists on interstate freeway work zones using automated cameras. Although many members in the House and Senate expressed strong opposition to the concept of photo enforcement, the authorization measure passed by an overwhelmingly 80 to 10 margin in the House and 28 to 0 in the Senate. The support was due in no small part to the bill’s wording, which granted authority to deploy cameras in the guise of restricting them.

“No surveillance cameras shall be permitted on federal interstate highways except for Smart Way cameras, other intelligent transportation system cameras or, when employees of the department or construction workers are present, surveillance cameras used to enforce or monitor traffic violations within work zones designated by the department of transportation; provided, that such cameras shall be operated only by a state entity,” House Bill 1202 states.

Read more via Tennessee Authorizes Statewide Freeway Speed Camera Program.