An eastern Iowa lawmaker says banning traffic enforcement cameras in Iowa is one of his top priorities in the 2018 legislature. Representative Bobby Kaufmann is a Republican from Wilton.

 

Efforts to ban the cameras that issue tickets for running stop lights or speeding have fallen short in the legislature for more than a decade. A state report issued last spring found 45 percent of the tickets issued by traffic cameras in Cedar Rapids were NOT paid. Kaufmann says the sheriffs from Muscatine and Cedar Counties tell him they oppose traffic cameras.

 

Last year the Iowa Senate passed a bill that would let automated traffic cameras operate in Iowa, but all the fines would be directed to public safety programs. Some sheriffs and police chiefs have told lawmakers the cameras are useful on stretches of road where it’s unsafe for an officer to pull a vehicle over. Critics say the out-of-state companies that review the video and mail out the citations are making too much money from the cameras.