Update: Highway Camera Idea May Be Dead
by Christine Stuart | March 6, 2008 1:18 PM
Posted to State Capitol
After first amending Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s proposal to install speed cameras on I-95 near Old Lyme, the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee killed the bill Thursday afternoon.
But it looks like Rell isn’t ready to give up on the idea just yet.
“The smartest way to improve highway safety is to add troopers,” Rep. Jim Shapiro, D-Stamford, said. He said a trooper can pull someone over and take a drunk driver out of play on the roads. “This is something a camera can’t do,” Shapiro said.
The committee’s chairwoman, Senator Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, said she was just as torn as her constituents seem to be about this bill, which would directly impact her district. Before amending the bill so it would only be able to take photos of license plates and not a driver’s face, Stillman called it an “emotional bill.” She said while she appreciates the attention the governor has given to the specific stretch of highway, she worries about the tools “we’re putting out there that infringe on people’s civil liberties.” In the end Stillman voted against the bill.
The final committee vote was 13 against and 9 in favor. One member was absent and didn’t vote.
In an emailed statement, Rell’s spokesman Chris Cooper said, “Governor Rell proposed the speed enforcement cameras as a pilot program because law enforcement officials believe, and results from other states demonstrate, that cameras do slow people down, prevent accidents and save lives. It is unfortunate that a proven technology was not even given a chance for a trial period in a very limited but dangerous stretch of I-95.”
It’s still possible Rell could ressurect the bill if she was able to get funding for it in the budget, however, part of Thursday’s discussion centered around cost.
Stillman said there is no fiscal note for the bill, so it’s unknown how much a one year pilot program may cost.
Rell may reveal more Friday when she visits the Police Department in Old Lyme to talk about her highway safety proposals.
Comments (3)
Posted by: Steven G. Erickson | March 6, 2008 9:35 PM
Connecticut seems to have more Troopers per mile than any other State or country I have ever been in.
Troopers are Armed Revenue collectors in Connecticut. There aren't more violators in Connecticut, just more officials in place to profit from anything you do in life.
Posted by: Ned | March 7, 2008 8:17 AM
The press keeps repeating the "dangerous stretch of I95" mantra, but where are the statistics to support this claim? Are there more dangerous roads in the state? What are the causes of accidents - people being distracted by their phones, eating, fatigue, medication, drunk, etc... Are speed cameras being promoted in this stretch of I95 because that's where they'll raise the most revenue? Does the company operating the cameras have a "special" relationship with one of the governor's friends, or another politician? I can see a lot of license plates being "creatively mounted". The state could track every vehicle via GPS and the car's black box. You know that's going to be proposed eventually. How about paying a fee to drive at certain speeds, in the left lane, and fining slow drivers who don't yield or keep to the right?
Posted by: juli | March 7, 2008 8:57 AM
i believe the reason this camera idea is so opposed, on the highway and on traffic lights in new haven, is because the worst offenders are often our law enforcement officers and city/state employees.