New Traffic Cams Coming to Intersections, Transit Buses in WA?

With the passage of House Bill 2384 (HB 2384) there may be more red light cameras and other traffic enforcement video coming to communities in WA soon.

  New law went into effect in July

Despite Republican legislator opposition, the bill passed, and now WA communities have the option to install more of these cameras.

 According to The Center Square, red light cameras can be used to nab violators who run lights, and traffic enforcement cams can be used to nab other violators.

The law also allows the installation of cameras on transit buses, mainly to capture violators traveling in designated transit-only lanes. Those kind of cameras would most likely be utilized in the more congested urban areas on the West side, especially in King and Snohomish Counties.

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Republican legislators objected to the plan, largely because the bill allows for reduced fines for low-income drivers. According to The Center Square:

"Republican lawmakers did not support the new law. They criticized several aspects of the measure, including reduced penalties for low-income violators. The new law allows the penalty to be cut in half for registered vehicle owners who are recipients of state public assistance, other than Medicaid, if they ask for the reduction."

The bill does state a municipality must compile and produce data showing why they want to put cameras in certain locations, and that must include annual reports on tickets issued and collision data in those areas.

According to The Center Square, the city of Auburn had experimented with these kinds of cameras but took them down in 2014. Officials said they were not sure they were reducing violations and accidents. Some said there were actually more rear-end collisions caused by drivers slamming on their brakes at red lights to avoid tripping the camera and getting a ticket.