Florida Needs To Finally Ban Red-Light Cameras

On Tuesday a House committee moved forward with a proposal to ban red-light cameras in Florida, two weeks after a similar measure stalled in the Senate.

The House Government Accountability Committee voted 16-3 to approve the measure (HB 6007), which would repeal a law that allows Florida’s cities and counties to install and use red-light cameras.

As we reported prior, there is overwhelming evidence that red-light cameras are only money makers for the manufacturers and for the municipalities in which they are in.

Numerous other states have already banned the cameras because reports show they CAUSE more accidents then they prevent. The reason they cause more accidents is drivers slam on their brakes now when they see a yellow light because they fear getting a fine. Florida has the same evidence yet lawmakers have not made them illegal.

The current proposal if passed would repeal the use of the cameras by July 1, 2020.

However, the Senate version (SB 178) failed in a 2-2 vote by the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 7.

Despite that vote, state Senator Daphne Campbell (D-Miami) just filed an identical bill (SB 630) last week.

On December 31 an additional report from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles showing intersection crashes were up 10.41 percent when comparing data before the cameras were installed and after they were in place.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) said:

I don’t think that the solution to an imperfect system is to just repeal it all together. I think that’s a knee-jerk reaction that has major implications.

Apparently Rep. Guillermo Smith is turning a blind eye to the recent accident data and the other states which have banned the cameras because they are unsafe and only a money producer.

The states that banned/phased out red-light cameras are:

Wisconsin 1995
Utah 1996
Alaska 1997
Nebraska 1999
Nevada 1999
Arkansas 2005
New Hampshire 2006
West Virginia 2006
Michigan 2007
Minnesota 2007
Indiana 2008
Maine 2009
Mississippi 2009
Montana 2009
South Carolina 2010
New Jersey 2014

The Florida Senators who voted against SB 178 in the Transportation Committee are:

Senator Kevin J. Rader (D), Tallahassee Office phone number: (850)487-5029

Senator George B. Gainer (R), Tallahassee Office phone number: (850)487-5002

If you want red-light cameras in Florida to be banned, call them and tell them to stop blocking the bills. Also, call you state representatives and tell them to support the bill this year.

You can find you state representatives here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

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