Texas to Ban Traffic Cameras

Posted on May 23, 2007
Filed Under Public Policy |

Texas is a progressive state in some respects, certainly so with regard to the scam that are traffic cameras.

Texas lawmakers have laid the smackdown on red light and speed cameras in a large manner. HB.922 states "A municipality may not implement or operate an automated traffic control system with respect to a highway under its jurisdiction," which means that cameras, automated radar or laser, or anything else designed to snag an image of a car, driver, or license plate and record its speed is now forbidden.

Traffic cameras, especially red light cameras, are nothing more than a cynical attempt to increase local revenues while at the same time increasing risk and danger at the intersections these things are supposed to protect.

In California there is a stubborn attempt to circumvent the "speed trap" law through the use of third party cameras (recently declared illegal in San Jose) or through the legislature attempting to rewrite the law to allow for the posting of speed limits that are lower than what engineering standards recomend for roadways and the use of radar or laser enforcement. Basically, the attempt is a thinly disguised attempt to allow for the ongoing use of speed traps not for public safety but for revenue generation.

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