Red light and speed cameras could soon be coming to your community. A bill that would allow cities and towns in Connecticut to install them is now heading to the governor.
The legislation has drawn support, but also concern.
Within the first 60 seconds recording a Hartford intersection in the evening hours, two cars can be seen running red lights. If a red-light camera was installed there, those cars could be cited automatically.
“We really want people to start thinking about slowing down and stopping at stop lights and stopping at yellow lights quite frankly,” Sen. Christine Cohen (D-Guilford) said.
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It’s those situations Cohen wants to see less of. She and a majority of senators passed HB 5917 in a bipartisan vote 27 to 9, allowing red light and speeding cameras to be installed if a city or town wants to.
“We’ve seen these work in other states. These are important measures to take as far as roadway safety is concerned," Cohen said.
However, lawmakers like Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) are skeptical this will improve traffic safety. He believes the cameras are too intrusive for drivers.
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“It’s very big brother for me. 1984, Brave New World. If I get pulled over by a police officer, I want to be able to talk to them at the time and understand exactly what happened,” Sampson said.
Most drivers we talked to say they’ve seen too many close calls at intersections.
“There’s kids at intersections and there’re pets, somebody running after a ball, so I think it’s a good thing,” Deborah Wilson of Manchester said.
“A lot of times there are pedestrians walking and not everyone sees them and there are accidents that I know my friends have been in,” Evan Birdsey of Madison said.
But organizations like the ACLU and NAACP are worried these new cameras will disproportionately target minorities. Cohen says there are guardrails in the policies to address those concerns.
“Making sure there’s municipal approval first before this goes to DOT [Department of Transportation]. DOT will have to establish a set of guidelines including making sure these cameras are not placed in an area that may be susceptible to racial profiling,” she said.
Some towns like New Haven and Waterbury are already either looking into or experimenting with these cameras. Governor Ned Lamont is expected to sign this bill into law.
