Red-Light Bill Cruising Past Committee Stops
April 20th, 2009 by flanewsLegislation to install more cameras at Florida intersections is getting the green light from lawmakers.
The bill would allow cameras to be placed on state roads. The cameras take pictures of cars that run red lights. The owner of the car is then sent a 150 dollar ticket for the violation. The legislation has failed several years in a roll, but the three billion dollar budget shortfall has lawmakers looking for more loot. Bill sponsor Ron Reagan said the legislation is about money.
“If I had my way hopefully there would be no revenue because people would stop running red-lights, but in reality that hasn’t happened. We’re in a situation where there is potential for revenue. We had almost 400-thousand violations of red-light laws last year that police officers actually wrote citations for and they estimate that less than five percent of the cases are even looked at or reviewed,” said Reagan.
41 Florida cities already operate red light cameras on local roads. The legislation was drafted after the wife of a man killed by a red-light runner began looking for ways to prevent traffic accidents.
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