The top two leaders in the Iowa legislature say lawmakers should establish statewide standards for traffic enforcement cameras. Sioux City and Cedar Rapids are planning to sue the Iowa Department of Transportation over the D-O-T’s order that some of the city’s speed cameras be removed. Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen is from Hiawatha, a suburb of Cedar Rapids and he says it is “appropriate” for legislators to establish the rules for cameras that ticket speeders and red-light runners.

The legislature has considered a variety of proposals over the past few years that would restrict traffic enforcement cameras, but Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says he’d like to see limits on the amount of money paid to the out-of-state companies that run the camera systems.

Gronstal says the red-light cameras in his community have dramatically reduced the number of serious crashes that require the jaws of life to extract drivers and passengers from wrecked vehicles.