Add red light cameras to the pile of red meat issues for politicians in 2012.
These automated devices, which snap photos of cars running through red lights and speeding through school zones, are the target of initiatives and legislation.
Mukilteo’s Tim Eyman, the state’s leading initiative entrepreneur, has filed language for a measure that would require unplugging the automated cameras in use today unless, or until, voters say it’s OK to deploy them.
It’s worth noting that Eyman isn’t sure if he’ll pursue this initiative. He did have a hand in passing similar-styled measures in Mukiliteo, Monroe, Longview and Bellingham and thinks they are poison to politicians who defend them too strongly.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are wrestling with the deployment of the devices too.
Today, the Senate Transportation Committee will consider Senate Bill 5188 to set a cap on the amount of the fines levied on those ticketed through the use of cameras.
It also requires cities and counties to “post an annual report of traffic accidents that occurred at each location where an automated traffic safety camera is located as well as the number of notices of infraction issued for each camera and any other relevant information about the automated traffic safety cameras that the city or county deems appropriate on the city’s or county’s web site.”
The committee hearing begins at 3:30 p.m. and can be watched live at www.tvw.org.
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