Des Moines, Iowa — A bill has emerged in the state legislature that would regulate traffic enforcement cameras that catch vehicles speeding and running red lights.
For the past 12 years, attempts to ban the cameras have failed, but Republican Senator Mike Klimesh of Spillville says it appears the House may accept a state permitting process for operating traffic cameras.
Cities would have to prove a traffic camera’s location is related to improving safety in the area to get a permit from the Iowa DOT. Klimesh says the bill will establish what fines may be charged on traffic cam tickets. The bill outlines a way for vehicle owners to make someone else pay the fine.
Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, is a reluctant supporter of the developing compromise. He’d like to ban traffic cameras in Iowa.
Senator Cindy Winckler, a Democrat from Davenport, is a reluctant supporter of the bill. She’s concerned about restricting the use of mobile traffic cameras in Iowa’s smaller communities.
The bill has cleared a Senate subcommittee, but lawmakers are discussing some changes to the plan before it would be debated by the full Senate. The first attempt to ban traffic cameras stalled in a Senate subcommittee in 2011. In 2015, the Iowa DOT ordered several Iowa cities to turn off traffic cameras along primary highways and interstates, but in 2018 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the legislature had not given the agency authority to regulate traffic cameras.
