Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Senate Bill 4, filed by state Senator Kent Adams (R-Warsaw) in October has gone through its second intersection, with passage by the state Senate yesterday 34 to 14.
The locally sponsored red light camera bill, initiated in part by Ann Sweet of Warsaw, is now scheduled to come before the House Roads and Transportation Committee for consideration.
If no roadblocks are set up in the House, the bill will advance to the General Assembly, then to Gov. Frank O'Bannon, with possible passage by April 1.
Sweet expects to testify before the House committee as she did before the full Senate Monday.
The original bill allows cities, towns and counties to adopt ordinances to place cameras at intersections.
Vehicles running red lights where the cameras are installed will be filmed and citations sent to the owners of the vehicles.
A Senate amendment directs citations to be sent to the drivers committing the offenses, places a $100 fee cap on the citations and mandates signage at the intersections to alert drivers about the cameras.
States that have adopted the sensory cameras as a traffic control tool report significant decreases in red light violations.
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 10th of states with the most fatal crashes per 100,000 people.
To record your opinion of the bill call 800-382-9467 for the Senate and 800-382-9841 for the House.
