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MILWAUKEE — A proposed state bill would let Milwaukee become the first Wisconsin municipality to employ automated traffic enforcement, a controversial measure that is currently illegal in Wisconsin and has found middling results in other American cities that employ it.

The bipartisan bill, first read in the Assembly on Aug. 12 and in the state Senate on Sept. 5, would allot the city a trial period of five years to place cameras at signaled intersections and other roadways to automatically enforce speed-limit and red-light violations by sending vehicle owners citations in the mail.

The bill, dubbed “Safe Roads Save Lives Legislation,” is currently in the Senate’s Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and the Assembly’s Committee on Local Government.

Sponsoring the measure are state Sens. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, and Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee; and 19 state representatives, including David Crowley, D-Milwaukee, Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, and Shelia Stubbs, D-Madison.

“Excessive speeding, red light running and disregarded traffic rules has created unsafe roads throughout our city,” the co-sponsors wrote in a joint statement. “As a community, we deserve to feel safe on our roads.”