AZ Moves to Ban Speed Cameras From Highways
AZcentral.com reports that the Arizona House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has voted 5-2 to recommend approval of House Bill 2106, banning the use of speed cameras on state highways. (The bill does not preclude cameras from city streets.) “This was done in the name of revenue,” pronounced an indignant Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert. Meanwhile, Pinal County County Supervisors voted to end their dalliance with Redflex’s mobile speed cameras. This after their top cop, Sheriff Paul Babeu, declared ”I’m against photo speed enforcement completely. Here in Pinal, it’s failed miserably.” Babeu told the panel that the two cameras were activated 11,416 times, from September 2007 through December 2008. The result: 7,290 citations. Of those, only 3,711 were paid. “Babeu said most of the total $134,199.43 in fines and fees from the paid citations covered administrative and operational costs, leaving the county with a net profit of $12,391.58 that Babeu dismissed as paltry. Moreover, Babeu said, total motor-vehicle accidents increased by 16 percent in the same time period, and fatal collisions in the Queen Creek area doubled from three to six.”