Highway work zone cameras eyed to deter speeding

DES MOINES – First it was red-light cameras monitoring busy city intersections; now a state lawmaker wants to extend photo traffic enforcement to work zones on interstate and primary highways in Iowa.

A House subcommittee began work Wednesday on a bill authored by Rep. Wesley Whitead, D-Sioux City, which would require state public safety and transportation officials to install photo traffic enforcement devices and warning signs in all road work zones on state highways to deter speeders.

“My sole intent with this legislation is to slow traffic down,” said Whitead, who expressed frustration with motorists who exceed the posted speed in road construction zones and endanger the lives of workers and vehicle operators. “We have people killed every year,” he said.

House File 2053 would require the placement of speed-enforcement cameras with low-powered Doppler radar units to photograph and record vehicle descriptions, registration plates, rates of speeds along with the times, dates and locations. The information would be reviewed by state law officers who could initiate an investigation within seven days to prosecute violators for speeding in work zones where the fines already are doubled.

The bill encountered a flashing yellow caution in subcommittee when Mark Smith of the state Public Defender's Office noted that the proposed legislation would establish a simple misdemeanor criminal speeding violation different from civil penalties assessed for red-light violations in several Iowa cities.

“It's probably unconstitutional if you impose a criminal penalty,” Smith said. “I have some huge problems with this bill,” he added, but noted they likely would go away if the violation was changed from a criminal to a civil penalty.

Ross Loder, a lobbyist for the state Department of Public Safety, said his agency is undecided on the issue but would oppose the bill as currently drafted because there are about 1,000 designated construction work zones in Iowa each year and he estimated House File 2053 would cost his agency $8 million to $10 million to buy and place the equipment and designate already limited Iowa State Patrol troopers to review the data.

Loder also said the proposed legislation could run into problems with multi-state enforcement compacts Iowa has with neighboring states.

Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, a retired state trooper, said he was open to the concept but did not like that the activity was being mandated rather than optional for state public safety and transportation enforcement agencies.

“I think technology definitely has a place in the future of law enforcement,” Tjepkes said. “At the same time, there has to be protections in place and we have to approach that very carefully.”

Whitead said he viewed his bill as the beginning of a public discussion on the issue and he would be open to changes that would improve the bill and pass constitutional muster.

“I don't want to rush into it. I want it right when we're done,” he said. “Every year there's somebody in Iowa who works on road construction that is killed by a motorist. That isn't acceptable to me.”

Whitead noted that he was encountered motorists who have flashed their lights or honked their horns to get him to travel faster than the posted work zone speed. “If I wasn't going 55, they'd be going 75,” he said.

There currently is no state law governing photo traffic enforcement. Several cities in Iowa have adopted local ordinances allowing red-light cameras at dangerous traffic intersections that have withstood legal challenges by being upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court.