For nearly three hours Wednesday morning, members of the Senate Public Safety First Responders Subcommittee heard testimony on two bills that would either ban or put new restrictions on school zone cameras. The meeting, which began at 6 a.m. and ended after 9 a.m., was designated as hearing only. Subcommittee Chairman Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, announced that both bills would be studied further before being presented to the full Public Safety Committee.
I think there’s the opportunity for a compromise,” Robertson said. “Hopefully, we can come up with something we can all live with.
One bill, HB 225 by Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, bans school zone traffic cameras altogether. Washburn said that in many areas of the state, local governments are using the cameras inappropriately and charging an exorbitant amount in fines from residents in places where students don’t walk to school in the first place.
The second bill, HB 651, by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, takes a different approach by applying “strict guardrails” on the use of school zone traffic devices. The bill restricts the use of these cameras and devices to four hours a day – two in the morning and two in the afternoon – and applies the “35 percent rule” which restricts cities or counties from raising more than 35 percent of their revenues from the devices.
In a unique move, both bills passed the House on the same day – just before Crossover.
Backers of the program say the school zone cameras save children’s lives and they want to fine tune the program rather than doing away with it.
“There is incentive for local government to use cameras to rake in money,” stated Washburn, who joined others who complained the technology is issuing too many speeding tickets. “Millions of dollars have been taken out of Georgians’ pockets.”
Gary Long, Butts County Sheriff, said he has had a “bad taste in my mouth since the cameras were implemented.”
“We are requiring less from cameras than we do of a certified law enforcement officer,” Long added. “It doesn’t sit right with me or my community that private companies can capitalize on a code violation. This makes me think of taxation through citation.”
Jeff Jackson, of the Georgia Independent School Council, also spoke out against the cameras. “The model for these programs is for public schools. Yet the cameras go up in front of our schools without us requesting them. Don’t get me wrong, we care a great deal about school safety. We do.”
Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, who Chairs the Public Safety Committee, said concerns have been raised regarding data privacy using the cameras which capture information on all cars and drivers passing through the zones even if they are not ticketed. “This is something we should be talking about.”
