California drivers may soon face speed cameras
The Associated Press
Posted: 01/08/2010 06:44:45 PM PST
Updated: 01/08/2010 07:19:44 PM PST
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California drivers who race through intersections might soon be caught on camera, a move Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed Friday to bolster the state budget with speeding fines. Schwarzenegger wants to retrofit 500 city and county traffic lights already equipped with cameras to capture drivers who run red lights with a system to snap the license plates of speeders, too.
Fines would range from $225 to $325. The state would collect 85 percent of the money, using the projected $338 million to help pay for courts and court security as it scrapes for money to close a $20 billion deficit.
The state estimates each of the 500 cameras would catch 4,800 speeders annually—2.4 million tickets a year statewide. Speeders who blow through red lights would be hit with fines for both violations.
"If the revenues come in below our conservative projections, then so much the better for public safety," said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance.
Local governments would operate the cameras and keep 15 percent of the money. League of California Cities lobbyist Jennifer Whiting said that might be enough to entice widespread participation, though the league has taken no position on the proposal.
Cities in several other states already use red light cameras to also catch speeders, according to California budget officials.
Several previous similar bills have failed in the Legislature.
Public acceptance might depend on whether the state can prove a benefit to public safety, said Patricia Mokhtarian, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis. "If they tie it to a safety standard, than it might be fine. If it's kind of perceived as a nickle-and-dime way of squeezing more money out of the speeding traveler, then there could be a backlash," she said.
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