Ban on traffic enforcement cameras advances in Iowa Senate

Traffic enforcement cameras would be banned on Iowa's roads under a bill advanced by an Iowa Senate subcommittee Wednesday, although heavy lobbying is underway in an effort to persuade lawmakers to keep the equipment.

Senate File 3, introduced by Republican Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale, would impose a statewide prohibition on electronic devices used to automatically ticket motorists who are speeding or running red lights. Local authorities currently using such equipment would be required to dismantle them, and all ordinances authorizing them would be declared void effective July 1. But citations written before that date would remain enforceable.

Automated traffic enforcement cameras have been unpopular since they first appeared in the state in 2004. Some of the controversy involves tickets issued to tens of thousands of out-of-state motorists by automated traffic cameras in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City. Those three communities are the only U.S. cities that have speed enforcement cameras monitoring interstates, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Iowa law enforcement officers and emergency medical professionals testified against the legislation, saying the technology has helped reduce traffic crashes, serious injuries and deaths. Opponents acknowledged the devices may have some safety benefits, but they complained the equipment has too often become an easy way to generate additional money for local government coffers, particularly from out-of-town motorists.

"I think that traffic cameras are there for one purpose, and that is to create revenue, and I am not in favor of it," said Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant. He told of his frustrations with being ticketed twice in one day by electronic speed cameras on Interstate Highway 380 while traveling to and from the Cedar Rapids area.

“I think that having the presence of an actual law enforcement officer in the area does a lot more good. It makes us aware that we have law enforcement in Iowa," Taylor said.

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert testified how a speed enforcement camera was installed on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 235 on the city's west side in an area with a slight curve and an incline where it isn't safe to park a patrol car on the shoulder.

"The cameras have calmed traffic on that stretch considerably," he said.

The bill was approved 3-0, advancing it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, lobbyists who favor retaining traffic enforcement cameras have been working with some other Republican senators on a competing bill in the Senate Transportation Committee. The alternative legislation — Senate Study Bill 1019 — is scheduled for a subcommittee debate Thursday. It would allow traffic enforcement cameras to remain in Iowa in high-risk and high-crash locations with approval of the Iowa Department of Transportation. The alternative bill would also require that money collected by cities and counties from automated traffic enforcement citations — minus expenses — be used for local road construction projects.

Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, who is chief operating officer of Midwest Ambulance Company, urged support of Zaun's bill, although he is not a subcommittee member. He said his company's ambulances were twice ticketed because of mistakes made by the automated equipment.

"How many other citizens have been hit with tickets inaccurately?" asked Chapman, suggesting many motorists may not have the ability to fight tickets issued in error.

Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski requested rejection of the legislation, presenting data showing that red light cameras have reduced overall annual crashes by 65 percent at major intersections in his community while lowering speeds. He was joined by Joe Lohmuller, a Davenport trauma surgeon, who said: "If there is anything that we can do to see fewer dead or injured, we are for it. I would be opposed to this bill.”

Speed cameras in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City issued more than 200,000 speeding tickets in 2015 to motorists traveling on interstates. The tickets generated more than $13 million in revenue, according to a Des Moines Register review of data obtained through public-records requests. Two of every five citations, 78,228 in all, were sent to out-of-state motorists. In addition, a majority of citations were issued to people who weren't residents of the city where they were ticketed.

Other places in Iowa which use automated traffic cameras include Council Bluffs, Muscatine, Davenport, Windsor Heights, Fort Dodge and Polk County.

Zaun's proposed ban on the traffic enforcement cameras is supported by lobbyists for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, the Iowa Association for Justice, ABATE of Iowa and the Iowa Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Opposition lobbyists include those representating Redspeed USA, Gatso USA, the cities of Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, the Polk County Board of Supervisors, the Iowa Police Chiefs Association, Iowa League of Cities, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co., and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.