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NJ State Sen. Michael Doherty
Red-light cameras seem about safety and more about pulling income from motorists for use by municipalities and the state, said Sen. Michael Doherty (R-23), who submitted a proposed bill in the state Legislature banning the cameras.
Doherty cited a town in Ocean County that he said collected $1 million in fines over the past two years from a pair of red-light cameras.
“It’s clear that towns have little interest in actually making intersections safer,” he said. “They want violations to occur so they can continue collecting fines to prop up government spending. It’s an easy way for elected officials to justify bloated local budgets.”
Doherty also sees a more insidious by-product of the lights: “We shouldn’t accept a ‘Big Brother’ government that takes photos and videos of us and records our movements as we travel.”
“People really dislike the cameras but aren’t sure what to do about it,” the state senator added. “That’s why I launched our online petition — to ensure that people can have their voices heard and be counted in their support of this legislation to prohibit red-light cameras and automated ticketing systems.”
His proposed bill prevents municipalities that don’t currently use red-light cameras from employing the systems, and would prohibit municipalities that already use the systems from renewing their contracts with the vendors that operate and maintain them.
Additionally, the bill removes the provision from current law that provides law enforcement with a 90-day time frame to issue tickets for violations of traffic control devices, including those generated by red light camera systems.
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