Rules restricting traffic camera use advance in House

DES MOINES - A Cedar Rapids lawmaker has objected to legislation to have the Iowa Department of Transportation set rules for the use of traffic enforcement devices - traffic cameras.

Rep. Art Staed, a Democrat, contends it is part of an effort to ban their use.

Staed voted against House File 2109 because he argues it is 'one of a number of bills to continue to work toward getting rid of the cameras altogether.”

'I hope that it is not an attempt to stop the use of cameras,” Staed told the House Public Safety Committee Thursday before it voted 18-2 to send the proposal to the full House.

Floor manager Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Dallas-Melcher, said that's not the intent of the measure. He said it is intended to provide statewide consistency in the use of traffic cameras.

A proposal in the Transportation Committee that would prohibit the use of 'automated or remote traffic law enforcement systems.” That would include drones and require the removal of those already in use. No action has been taken on that proposal,

Staed told the committee that in the year before cameras were installed on Interstate 380 through Cedar Rapids, there were three fatalities and nine serious injury accidents. Since then, there have been no fatalities and no serious injuries in that area.

'It's been a great asset to public safety,” Staed said. 'They work ... and I hope we will continue to support the use of them and give the DOT and communities flexibility in how they use them.”

Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, opposed the proposal for similar reasons. The use of traffic cameras should be a matter of local control, he said.

'The bill has too many controls,” he said. 'We're taking away the autonomy of city councils.”

Heartsill said the measure would give the DOT authority to 'regulate and provide impartial oversight” for traffic cameras. The DOT would conduct annual reviews to ensure all automated traffic enforcement devices are operated in accordance with the standards. Local jurisdictions would have to justify the need for the devices.

He thought changes made in the bill would address Staed's concern. The proposal would give DOT governance over the state highway system but not city streets or county roadways, except where they are part of the state system such as First Avenue in Cedar Rapids.

An amendment to the bill removed language that would have sent the fines from traffic camera citations to the county clerks of court. Lawmakers were told that could amount to an unfunded mandate because some clerks' office might have to hire additional personnel to process the citations.