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Branstad defends proposed Iowa DOT traffic camera rules
Rod Boshart
Nov. 4, 2013 10:47 am
State transportation officials are “clearly within their authority” to set regulations for speed and red-light traffic enforcement cameras placed along state highways and interstates, Gov. Terry Branstad told reporters Monday.
The governor's defense of the Iowa Department of Transportation's proposed rules came after law enforcement officials from Iowa's largest cities hammered the new DOT regulations at a public hearing last week, saying they would make it more difficult for them to install and use traffic cameras. Local officials argued safety and enforcement should be up to the cities and the DOT guidelines amounted to “nothing more than a ban.”
During his weekly news conference Monday, Branstad said he favors a proposed state policy that will regulate where and when traffic enforcement devices can be used on primary and interstate highways. Decisions on what to do regarding city streets and county roads would be left to the local jurisdictions, he added.
“What they do on their city streets and county roads is one thing, but what they do on our state's highways is totally another thing and our state's DOT has a responsibility to oversee the highway system,” the governor said.
“One of the concerns Iowans have about it is how much are the out-of-state vendors getting out of this,” Branstad added, “and what is the fairness of some people being ticketed even though they weren't driving, and other people, because their license isn't disclosed, are not subject to it.”
DOT officials have created an application that requires a six-part justification for the implementation, placement and use of automated traffic enforcement systems. The standards include provisions relating to motorist safety, signs and effectiveness.
A key part of the proposed rules requires an annual report from the municipality to the state agency about the effectiveness of the automated traffic systems already in place. DOT officials then could determine whether the camera still is longer needed or whether other measures need to be adopted by the municipality.
"These recommended guidelines amount to nothing more than a ban,” Sioux City Police Chief Don Young told the two IDOT officials who ran the public hearing. “Safety and its enforcement should be up to the cities.”
The proposed rules still must go through the Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee with the earliest date that the new state regulations could take effect being sometime next February.