Iowa lawmakers trying again to take on traffic cameras

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers are making one remaining effort to control site visitors cameras in Iowa cities this legislative session.

A invoice superior out of a Senate subcommittee Monday that might require cities and counties to get approval from the Iowa Division of Transportation earlier than inserting site visitors cameras. The invoice, Senate File 489, intently matches a Home invoice that handed out of committee earlier this yr however has not been handed by the chamber.

Lawmakers have floated a number of strategies to control site visitors enforcement cameras this yr — and over the previous a number of years — citing considerations about privateness and arguing some cities abuse the methods to drive income.

Cedar Rapids, in a program that started in 2010, operates automated site visitors cameras at 9 areas, together with 4 that monitor velocity going into and out of the “S-curve” on Interstate 380 north of downtown. Final week, the Marion Metropolis Council voted to open the door to putting in red-light and velocity cameras within the metropolis, though simply what number of and the place they’d be positioned is but to be specified.

A 2018 Iowa Supreme Court docket resolution discovered that the Division of Transportation couldn’t regulate site visitors cameras with out modifications to the regulation, and cities have broad freedom to make use of the methods and situation citations.

Beneath the invoice, cities and counties would wish to file a request for a allow that features information on site visitors patterns, collisions and different issues of safety on the location they intend to arrange a digital camera. In addition they would wish to checklist various strategies of enforcement they’ve tried. The Iowa DOT could be the company to grant the permits.

Cities would solely be allowed to situation citations from the methods for failure to cease at an intersection with a site visitors mild or a railroad crossing, and exceeding the velocity restrict by over 10 mph — lower than the 12 mph that triggers a ticket underneath Cedar Rapids’s program.

Republican Sen. Mike Klimesh of Spillville stated the invoice shall be amended to direct a number of the funds collected by fines underneath the digital camera set up to the Size of Service Awards Program, a fund that grants awards to volunteer firefighters, reserve officers and volunteer emergency medical service staff.

The Cedar Rapids cameras generated greater than $5.3 million in income from site visitors citations for the fiscal yr that ended June 30, 2022. Town has budgeted for almost $6 million in income generated by the site visitors cameras for the present fiscal yr.

A part of the income is used for public security functions, together with supporting the funding of 33 Cedar Rapids police officer positions and public security applications. Cash additionally has been used previously to buy police and hearth tools and help social justice applications, such because the Citizen Assessment Board and City Goals.

The invoice’s modification would additionally permit cities to make use of site visitors enforcement methods which might be cell — not simply mounted — primarily based on their dimension: bigger cities would have the ability to use them and situation citations, whereas smaller cities would have the ability to place them alongside the street however may situation solely warnings, not citations.

Lobbyists representing cities and police organizations have been skeptical of payments being superior to control the cameras, saying they’d restrict a device that’s essential for site visitors security and typically funds a good portion of cities’ public security budgets.

Larry Murphy, a lobbyist for each Cedar Rapids and the Iowa Police Chief Affiliation, stated he prefers this invoice to an outright ban, however it might make the method extra bureaucratic and tough to rapidly reply to site visitors points.

Rep. Cindy Winckler, a Democrat from Davenport, stated the invoice will restrict native management and take away cities’ freedom to make use of expertise to implement the regulation and reduce collisions.

“We should be understanding of the selections which might be made at an area degree by people who’re elected to make these selections. … Sitting right here making an attempt to make selections on behalf of the communities in regard to the alternatives that they make in expertise and public security is actually unfair,” she stated.

However Klimesh stated there already are loads of actions native governments must receive permits for, and cities may nonetheless put site visitors enforcement cameras in high-crash areas.

Klimesh stated he has had conversations with Rep. Phil Thompson of Boone, the Home Public Security Committee chair, about closing the hole on the 2 chambers’ payments earlier than the top of the legislative session.

“I really feel it has a fairly good probability of getting finished this yr,” Klimesh stated. “If not this yr, we now have yet another yr of the Basic Meeting. This shall be a reside spherical subsequent yr, and we’ll take it again up once more and attempt to end it off subsequent yr.”