Bill to ban traffic cameras in Iowa fails

DES MOINES – Automated traffic enforcement systems designed to improve public safety and monitor vehicle speeds got the green light to continue operations in Iowa from a Senate panel Thursday.

A three-member Senate Transportation subcommittee heard testimony for and against cameras used by law enforcement in five Iowa communities to identify speeding and/or red-light violations before deciding 2-1 not to advance a bill that would impose a statewide ban on the use of automated traffic enforcement systems and terminate existing systems currently in use.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, said he was not prepared to end the practice of traffic-monitoring cameras, but he would be willing to amend the perimeters under which they operate to provide more uniformity of rules and penalties. He also wanted more data to back anecdotal testimony that the systems are improving public safety, noting he's concerned about a public perception that the systems are “a revenue grab” for local communities.

Terry Timmons of the League of Iowa Cities said Iowa State University is in the process of doing an updated evaluation of red-light camera programs in Iowa and he urged lawmakers to await results expected yet this session before they decide on any proposed changes. He said traffic-monitoring cameras currently are used in some form in Cedar Rapids, Clive, Council Bluffs, Davenport and Sioux City and are under serious study in Des Moines.

Lt. Jeff Hembera of the Cedar Rapids Police Department said crashes at the city's most-dangerous intersections that are monitored by cameras dropped by 40 percent from 2009 to 2010, while accidents on Interstate 380 are down 54 percent and there have been no deaths since speed-monitoring cameras went up last year.

“I think we've been having the effect of what we're going after,” Hembera said. “This is about trying to reduce crashes, we're trying to reduce property damages and we're trying to change driver behavior. I think we are having the effect that we've been going after.”

In Cedar Rapids, $2.5 million was generated by the cameras in the first seven months the cameras were turned on. Cedar Rapids received $1,583,225 in revenue from the cameras during the first sevens months after they were installed. Another $1,017,900 went to camera vendor Gatso USA, a Beverly, Massachusetts-based firm.

Gatso said the number of red-light citations issued by traffic cameras in Cedar Rapids dropped by 60 percent in the first seven months.

However, Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said there is little evidence the systems provide any significant safety benefit while they pose due-process concerns because people accused of violating traffic laws are assumed to be guilty until they can prove their innocence when citations are issued based on who owns a vehicle rather than who was operating it would an alleged driving infraction occurred.

Stone also said there have been instances of abuse by local officials who have been caught shortening yellow-light duration times on traffic signals to increase the number of violations and the amount of revenue generated. He also said 15 public referenda have been held around the country on traffic cameras and each time they have been rejected by voters.

“These mechanized policing systems, if allowed to proliferate, will become a pernicious and smothering presence in the lives of all Iowans,” he said.

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, one of 12 GOP senators who filed Senate File 121 to ban the traffic-monitoring cameras in Iowa, said he believes changes are needed because fines for violations vary among localities. He also wanted to see more accountability or uniform regulations for the automated enforcement tool.

Zaun said he was surprised and concerned over testimony provided Thursday by Melissa Jensen, an administrative hearing officer in Cedar Rapids who indicated that only about 2 percent of camera-generated citations are appealed but more than half that are get overturned.

Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he plans to bring a bill before his committee that would establish parameters for cities if they use traffic cameras. The three components are signage, so cameras are marked; a cap on the amount of the civil citation; and due process, he said.

He said due process is set out in criminal law, “but here if your license number is misread or there are extenuating circumstances, you're guilty until you prove your innocence.”

Tjepkes said his bill would not address the percentage that goes to vendors or whether they are in-state or not. “That's their business,” he said.