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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Law - Mississippi passes law banning red light cameras
The ILB's most recent entry on the bill authorizing red-light cameras, which is making its way through the General Assembly, is here, from March 17th.
Yesterday the Biloxi-Gulfport Mississippi SunHerald had a story by Emily Wagster Pettus, headlined "Jackson stops enforcement with red-light cameras." Some quotes:
From a story in The Commercial Dispatch, reported by John Mott Coffey:JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi's capital city will stop issuing tickets and collecting fines when automatic cameras snap pictures of vehicles running red lights, city attorney Sarah O'Reilly Evans says.
The change in Jackson is being made immediately, even though a new state law sets an Oct. 1 deadline for the cameras to be taken down in the only two cities already using them - Jackson and Columbus.
Natchez, Tupelo, Southaven and McComb are among the cities that have considered installing the red-light cameras. Officials there are scrambling to re-evaluate their plans or contracts because the law prohibits the devices in any city or county where they're not already up.
The cameras take pictures of the license plates of vehicles that run red lights. A photograph is sent to a vehicle's owner, along with a ticket. Cities share revenue with the private companies that have contracts to operate the cameras. * * *
Several lawmakers complained the cameras were an invasion of privacy and their constituents thought they had been unfairly ticketed.
Gov. Haley Barbour's office announced Monday that he had signed the bill into law late Friday.
At least 18 states have laws allowing the red-light cameras, but about six states have banned or severely restricted their use, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.Makers of the red-light cameras — who had urged Barbour to veto the bill — said the new law tramples on local governments’ rights to enact their own traffic ordinances. It also could unlawfully sever contracts cities already have with the companies to install and operate the cameras.
“Banning these life-saving safety programs is not only bad for public safety, but it will have much broader ramifications as it would infringe on home rule for cities and counties and would nullify existing business contracts in violation of (the state Constitution),” said Josh Weiss, director of communications and public affairs for American Traffic Solutions Inc., a red-light camera contractor.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 24, 2009 02:58 PM
Posted to General Law Related