JEFFERSON CITY • Rep. Paul Curtman wants to give Missourians the option to eliminate red-light cameras across the state — but first the General Assembly must approve the measure.

Curtman, R-Union, filed the bill ahead of the 2015 Legislative session. If lawmakers pass it — and Gov. Jay Nixon signs it — it would be placed on the ballot in August 2016.

“Studies have consistently shown that the presence of red light cameras has done little if anything to improve compliance with traffic laws and in most cases has actually contributed to an increase in traffic collisions,” Curtman said.

His bill comes as the Missouri Supreme Court mulls the future of traffic camera enforcement laws in three Missouri cities.

St. Louis, along with the suburban municipalities of Moline Acres and St. Peters, argued the legality of their laws in the widely watched legal showdown pitting municipalities, which insist the cameras are an important safety tool, against motorists, who see the cameras as Orwellian devices that are more about generating revenue than making roads safer.