New Jersey Senate approves bill to shield drivers from ticket cameras

One bill halfway through the New Jersey statehouse is intended to limit the effect of red-light and speed cameras.

The Garden State does not employ the use of ticket cameras. Other states in the Northeast, however, do use automated enforcement methods.

The New Jersey Senate voted unanimously to advance a bill to prohibit the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission from providing identifying information for New Jersey licensed drivers to camera enforcement entities in other states.

Titled the “Camera Enforcement Inoculation Act,” the legislation is modeled after a South Dakota law that prohibits the state from sharing information with other states for the collection of civil fines that result from camera tickets.

The bill, S460, has moved to the Assembly. If approved there, it would head to the governor.

‘Government-sanctioned-theft’

Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, said New Jersey lawmakers from both parties acted years ago to resist “the siren song of easy cash.”

“We recognized that this equipment makes no one any safer but does serve to enrich the corrupt companies that peddle this nonsense,” O’Scanlon said in previous testimony.

“But that hasn’t stopped these corrupt companies from reaching into our wallets from out of the state,” he stated. “This bill will shut that door tight and protect our drivers from this government-sanctioned-theft.”

He adds that ticketing systems “only make money when safety and engineering criteria regarding yellow light times and speed limits are ignored.”

Fed support for ticket camera programs

New federal guidance from earlier this year authorizes states to tap billions for roadway safety programs.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has unveiled plans to address a record increase in traffic deaths on the nation’s highways. Automated cameras were included among the tools identified to aid reducing fatalities.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s national roadway safety strategy addresses the administration’s goal for the program.

“Automated speed enforcement, if deployed equitably and applied appropriately to roads with the greatest risk of harm due to speeding, can provide significant safety benefits and save lives.” LL

More Land Line coverage of news from New Jersey.