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State Senator Kent Adams (R-Warsaw) continues his fight to enact legislation allowing local communities the option of installing automated red light cameras.
At Adams' request, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter's office has issued an opinion regarding the need for legislation to be passed in the Indiana legislature before local governments could use red light cameras.
Senate Bill 4, initiated by Adams and Tom Wyss (R-Fort Wayne) would have allowed cities, town and counties to adopt an ordinance allowing placement of the sensory cameras at dangerous intersections.
When a driver commits a violation, the automated traffic law enforcement system camera would produce a recorded image of the motor vehicle proceeding through the red light.
Citations would then be mailed to the owners of the violating vehicles, complete with photographs.
Authorities would treat the offense as a non-moving violation which would not affect driver license points or insurance, unless an accident was caused.
After passage through the senate committee on Transportation and Interstate Cooperation, where it was heavily amended, the bill went to the house Rules and Legislative Procedures where it sat for a month.
Monday House Speaker John Gregg reassigned the bill to the Co,mmittee on Roads and Transportation where Democratic chairman Rep. Gary Cook (Plymouth) refused to hear it.
"Representative Cook thought the law already allowed cities and towns to do this without the law change," Adams said. "INDOT's legal advisors said legislation had to be enacted. So I went to the attorney general for advice."
The AG's office found that Indiana law mandates a state statute must be in place before local communities can install such devices on state or federal highways within the local jurisdiction or enforce penalties by a local ordinance.
"We'll go back next year and file the bill again," Adams said from his Warsaw residence this morning. "A lot more people are interested in what's happening now."
The issue is receiving national attention with the introduction of a federal bill to allow the cameras. It is opposed by House Majority Leader Dick Armey who has said lengthening the time of yellow lights would cut down on red light running.
Local resident Ann Sweet attended hearings and submitted written testimony regarding red light cameras before a subcommittee hearing yesterday.
"Enacting automated traffic enforcement legislation is an attempt to change drive behavior to make our streets and highways safer. My bill is all about local control. I have faith in letting each community decide individually what is best for its area," the senator said.
Studies show a 43 percent reduction in accidents at intersections where cameras are installed.
According to a July 2000 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers who run red lights are responsible for an estimated 260,000 crashes each year. More than 800 of these crashes result in fatalities.
Indiana is ranked tenth of states with the most fatal crashes per 100,000 people.
