WASHINGTON — The debate over speed and red light cameras has landed in
unusual company.
In the lame-duck session of Congress, two outgoing House Republicans have put
forward a bill that would run the oft-reviled cameras out of town.
The Safer
American Streets Act prohibits the “use of automated traffic
enforcement systems in the District of Columbia.”
It specifically bans the use of the cameras and the information they obtain.
Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, and Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Michigan, put the
bill
forward. Both will leave office in January.
“These fellas who have been rejected by their own constituents must be
hell-bent on getting a legacy one way or another,” says Del. Eleanor Holmes
Norton, D-D.C.
She suggests that no one likes getting caught by one of automated cameras, but
the
debate about their value should be done on a local level.
“I can only think that they must have been caught by one of the red-light
cameras or one of the speed cameras,” Norton says with a chuckle.
She confesses to being caught by one herself, but she doesn’t believe Congress
has any business intervening in the issue.
Related Stories:
- New speed, stop sign cameras in D.C.
- Ticketbuster: Montgomery County resident follows the rules, still
gets a ticket - Speed cameras activated in College Park
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