Whatever happened to red-light cameras?
At their 2011 peak, 25 cities across Missouri, including ºüÀêÊÓƵ and various suburbs, used the devices on state-maintained roads, says the state Department of Transportation.
That jumped to about 30 if it you include municipalities employing the cameras only on local streets.
But as of last week, there was only one community still using the overhead cameras to catch vehicles running red lights — Hannibal.
“You drive around and still see them up on the poles,†said Ryan Keane, an attorney who filed suits challenging some of the local ordinances that authorized the cameras.
But except for Hannibal, he said, none are issuing tickets based on photos produced by the systems.
Keane speculated that “the storm of litigation†surrounding the cameras “scared off municipalities†from reinstituting them.
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Frank Vatterott, a longtime municipal judge active in court reform efforts, added that officials in some smaller north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County towns may worry that using the cameras will run afoul of a 2015 state law capping the amount of traffic fine revenues they can keep.
Red-light cameras are still allowed in Missouri. But effectively set restrictions for their use in the future.
One decision invalidated the ordinance in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, which, like many other cities using cameras, took photos of vehicles, not drivers. The court ruled that the ordinance improperly required the defendant to prove he or she wasn’t operating the vehicle at the time of the violation.
In another decision, the Supreme Court said St. Peters’ original red-light camera ordinance conflicted with state law because convictions didn’t result in state penalty points on a driver’s license.
Throughout the controversy, supporters of the cameras insisted that the devices make intersections safer, and opponents argued that they’re a ploy to generate more municipal revenue.
Vatterott said, despite the 2015 court guidelines clarifying how the cameras are to be handled, leaders in some cities concluded that “it’s not worth the hassle†to redo ordinances. Some camera cities had suspended issuing tickets after previous rulings by lower courts.
Still, the camera lull might end.
A spokesman for American Traffic Solutions — the Arizona company which operated most of the Missouri cameras — said Friday it plans to begin talking with cities this summer to try to rework their laws.
Charles Territo, a senior vice-president with the firm, said it had held off until it was sure that changes in its camera systems to adhere to the 2015 Supreme Court guidelines would work as efficiently and effectively as previously.
He said this includes matching photos of faces of drivers with state license records. “We feel very confident we have a process in place that will allow cities to move forward,†he said.
One major customer had been ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Deanna Venker, city traffic commissioner, said city officials had been waiting for the company to adjust its software before looking at the idea of using the cameras again.
She said the streets department would review the company’s changes and consider proposing restarting the camera program to newly-elected Mayor Lyda Krewson and the Board of Aldermen.
She said police officers “cannot be at every corner doing this quality-of-life†enforcement because of the need for them to focus on more serious crimes.
Krewson’s spokesman, Koran Addo, said the mayor believes the cameras can be a good safety feature when properly installed and monitored but she hasn’t made a decision on reinstating them. “She’s open to them,†he said. “She needs more information.â€
Veteran Alderman Steve Conway, who heads the Board of Aldermen’s budget committee, said he doesn’t believe the board would approve using the cameras again.
While he initially supported them as a way of reducing serious accidents at intersections, he said too many tickets went to people making a right turn on red after a rolling stop.
Meanwhile, efforts to prohibit red-light cameras statewide will continue in the Missouri Legislature, says state Rep. Bryan Spencer, R-Wentzville, who sponsored an unsuccessful bill to that end in this year’s regular session.
They’re already banned across St. Charles County by a county charter amendment passed by voters in 2014.
“I don’t want it to come back,†Spencer said of the cameras. “No more Big Brother.â€