Iowa Senate tries another tack on traffic cameras

DES MOINES — A bill to regulate the use of traffic cameras in Iowa is again making its way through the statehouse, as lawmakers struggle to agree on how much to regulate the systems in use in some Iowa cities.

Police chiefs from across Iowa were at the Capitol on Thursday to show their support for the measure, even as they have opposed a separate bill in the Senate to ban the use of traffic cameras entirely. Revenues from speeding tickets issued by cameras often go to fund police departments.

Senate File 489 would require cities and counties to apply for approval from the state Department of Transportation to install traffic cameras to monitor speed limit and red light violations.

The bill, which passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee last year, passed out of a Senate tax policy subcommittee Thursday.

Iowa's majority Republicans have long debated measures to rein in the use of traffic cameras, which many see as an unfair revenue generating scheme for cities without improving public safety.

A separate Senate bill, which has moved out of the Judiciary Committee, would ban the use of traffic cameras entirely. That measure is paired with stricter prohibitions on the use of a cellphone while driving.

The bill discussed Thursday was the one favored by law enforcement officials, who said traffic enforcement cameras have a legitimate use and can significantly improve public safety while freeing up officers to respond to calls for service.

Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel told lawmakers that he is not opposed to regulation of traffic cameras, but they are effective in changing drivers’ behavior and an important piece of a community’s public safety strategy.

“We ask a lot of a police officer each and every day,” he said. “Traffic is one of those pieces. So having the ability to embrace that technology, having the ability to put those in the hands of the officers, when used right in a public safety interest, are very impactful for the holistic safety of our community.”

Cedar Rapids Police Chief David Dostal said that there was around a 47 percent chance that an accident on Interstate 380 would result in an injury before the city installed traffic cameras along the interstate. That number has fallen to around 27 percent since putting up the cameras.

What the bill says

Under the bill, local governments that apply for a traffic camera permit would need to show the record of traffic violations and collisions at a location where they want to install a camera.

The application would need to include a list of alternative enforcement measures the city or county has taken or considered, and an explanation of the need at that location.

Cameras approved by the state could only be used to cite a driver for speeding or for not stopping at a red light or railroad crossing. The cameras could not be used to monitor license plate numbers when investigating non-traffic crimes.

Cameras could only be put up in neighborhoods, school zones, construction zones, or areas where alternative traffic enforcement is difficult or dangerous. Speeding tickets issued by the cameras could range from $75 for 10 miles per hour over the speed limit to $500 for 30 miles per hour over. The fines would be higher in a construction zone.

Cities and counties with a population under 20,000 could be approved for a camera, but they could only to use them to issue warnings, not citations.

Regulation beats a ban

Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee who proposed the regulation bill, said it responds to concerns that some traffic cameras are being used solely to drive revenue for a city, while still allowing them to be used when they improve public safety.

  Buy Photo

“If we regulate, it removes the bad actors in the space and ensures that the ones that are up are actually providing legitimate public safety to those communities that need it,” he said.

The full traffic camera ban was proposed and championed by Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale. The bill, which also includes a ban on cellphone use while driving, had enough support to pass committees in the Senate and House, but it’s unclear whether there is enough support to pass it in either full chamber.

Rep. Brian Best, R-Glidden, chair of the House Transportation Committee, said he does not believe there are enough votes to pass that measure in the House. He said he wants to move forward with a bill similar to what Klimesh proposed rather than an outright ban.

“We've got to get something done. We can't do nothing,” he said. “Because doing nothing just means that we’re going to have more and more and more pop up in places where they're not necessary. And then we're just using them as a taxation tool, and we got to get away from that.”

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com