Austin lawmakers have spent most of the last decade slowing the use of red-light cameras in Texas, and appear poised for a full stop this legislative session.

Two bills, one in the House and a nearly-identical one in the Senate, would prohibit photographic enforcement of traffic signal laws at intersections, a tactic used in nearly 50 Texas cities. Though defended by many cities and police departments as a necessary safety tool, the cameras have faced intense scrutiny and engendered hatred among some residents — both those who receive a ticket in the mail demanding payment and others who consider it an issue of liberty.

In explaining his SB 653 Wednesday, state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, said lawmakers are supposed to ensure the rights of Texans and their personal safety.

“Continuing to allow electronic signal enforcement is an abdication of both of these responsibilities,” Hall said.

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Houston removed its red-light cameras after a blistering debate in 2011, but many suburban cities such as Humble, Willis and Sugar Land rely on photo enforcement.

“Cameras change driving behavior,” said Scott Schultz, assistant police chief in Sugar Land.

San Antonio does not have cameras, but the suburban cities of Leon Valley and Balcones Heights both rely on the lights for enforcement.

”These cameras are working in our city,” said Michael Naughton, fire chief in Leon Valley.

Hall’s bill — which was discussed Wednesday but not passed by the Senate Transportation Committee — would prohibit use of electronic photo enforcement of intersections. The bill is a companion to HB 1631 by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, which has 103 sponsors.

Gov. Greg Abbott has indicated he favors abolishing red-light cameras in the state.

“They are expensive, studies indicate that they may increase accidents where deployed, and they pose constitutional issues,” according to a report released in September by Abbott’s office.

The tickets also are annoying, many critics and lawmakers have said. Often, citations come from companies on behalf of cities with cameras, sometimes threatening to withhold vehicle registrations or turn the fine — a civil penalty like a parking ticket — over to a collection agency.

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Additionally, the vehicle’s owner receives the citation, even if he or she was not driving the car at the time of the infraction, further infuriating some critics. State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, said he received a citation in Dallas related to one of his vehicles while he was in Austin during the 2017 legislative session.

A police officer informed Nichols he could help authorities identify the driver to avoid the citation.

“I would rather pay the ticket than turn my wife in,” Nichols deadpanned, to laughter.

Lawmakers have spent most of the past decade eroding the ability of cities to install cameras, but consistently failed to ban them outright. In 2017, a bill banning the cameras never even received a vote in the House Transportation Committee. Since then, leadership in the House and on the transportation committee has changed.

Opposition to the cameras, meanwhile, has strengthened. Critics of photo enforcement noted a Case Western University analysis that looked at Texas cities before and after the installation and removal of cameras, found they had no effect on reducing crashes. While eliminating some crashes related to red-light running, the analysis found a noticeable increase in rear-end crashes related to drivers slamming on their brakes.

Rather than improving safety, critics said the cameras pad agency coffers.

“The cameras do help expose bad politicians,” joked Kelli Cook, a Willis woman active in local political issues.

Others said it would be a major mistake to remove the cameras, at a time when roadway fatalities in Texas continue on troubling trends.

“We have had a 70 percent reduction in accidents,” said Darrell Volz, police chief in Balcones Heights, a small city surrounded by San Antonio.

Importantly, Volz said, it allows small departments to focus their resources elsewhere.

“For us, it is a force multiplier,” he said.

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Officials with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the Texas Department of Transportation have included red-light cameras in the state’s highway safety plan, extolling their merits.

“This bill, it is a slap in the face of our transportation safety professionals who are saying this will kill people,” said Jay Blazek Crossley, a Austin-based advocate who participated in developing the roadway safety plan.

If the two bills advance, there will be some debate over a key difference identified Wednesday. Hall, reluctantly, revised his bill to take effect immediately, except in cases in which contracts between cities and private companies that oversee the cameras do not allow termination of the agreement. Those cities, a likely handful, though a full number that would be affected was unknown Wednesday, would be allowed to keep the cameras until the end of the contract term, but would not be able to renew the agreements.

“Unfortunately, what we are doing is awarding bad behavior,” Hall said of the decision to allow some to continue.

dug.begley@chron.com

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