Testimony was heard in Jefferson City today on legislation that would outlaw the use of red light cameras in Missouri.
The bill is sponsored by State Representative Paul Weiland (R, Imperial). He called red light cameras a gimmick for boosting revenue, saying that cities that use them fine violators without adding points to their driving records.
“We’ve got people running around out there that get 15 or 20 of these (citations), and some people don’t even pay them," Wieland told the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety. "The bad drivers are bad drivers - how are we gonna identify them and get them off the road if we don’t record the points (for) the Department of Revenue?”
The bill’s opponents testified that red light cameras reduce traffic crashes at dangerous intersections.
Kathy Tremeear of Moscow Mills told the committee about her daughter Kayla, who at the age of 10 was killed in a traffic crash involving a red light runner.
“I still miss her everyday," Tremeear said. "She would have been 18, and walking across the stage to get her diploma this past year, in May…that is one of many moments that we will never have because somebody didn’t obey a red light.”
A committee vote on the bill was postponed, due to the number of people testifying and length of testimony from witnesses on both sides of the issue.
