State Rep. Ed Soliday's legislation to deputize cameras for law enforcement in speed zones is solid, but it could be improved.
House Bill 1404 is aimed at making work zones safer. That's an important goal.
According to the Indiana Department of Transportation, there were 13 people killed and more than 300 injured in work zones in 2013. Drivers and passengers, rather than construction workers, are more likely to be hurt.
Soliday's proposal for the use of speed camera enforcement could — and should — prompt drivers to slow down. There's something about those signs warning of automatic enforcement that makes a driver think twice about exceeding the speed limit.
These are not red light cameras, which are generally installed as revenue-generating devices and, as we saw in Chicago, can actually make intersections more dangerous by prompting greedy politicians and bureaucrats to shorten yellow lights to boost revenue. HB 1404 should specifically prohibit them.
Like red light cameras, speed cameras do ticket the vehicle owner, rather than the driver committing the infraction. That's why speeding violations recorded by those cameras should not be reported to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which normally would assess points against a driver's license for a speeding ticket, along with the fine.
The House Roads and Transportation Committee amended HB 1404 to clarify that the speed cameras would be used only in work zones where the normal route is diverted, the road surface is significantly disturbed or road construction equipment is located. That addresses our concern about putting up cameras where no work is actually being done.
It should further address subsequent violations within the same trip through the work zone. A driver shouldn't rack up thousands of dollars in fines by being caught speeding past multiple cameras in the same short work zone, although it does make sense to enhance penalties if a driver continues to exceed the speed limit by 10 mph or more for several miles through a lengthy work zone.
As for the fines collected through this means of enforcement, 25 percent would be split evenly by the authorizing agency and the camera company. The remaining 75 percent would be used to help develop a statewide trauma hospital network, something Indiana clearly needs.
HB 1404 has earned our support. With these changes, it could become stronger.
Indiana needs to make work zones safer. This could be the means to do so.