Audio clip
Missy Crutchfield
Chattanooga's photo-enforced red-light and speed cameras are a thorn in many drivers' sides, but those popped by the $50 ticket can tell themselves they're making roads safer.
Or at least that's the word from city leaders, who plan to fund partial grants for teenage driver education with the nearly $1 million netted since the photo-camera fines were initiated in June 2007.
"Right now we just have a draft proposal, and it's making its way through the city processes, but we hope to have to a pilot program very soon," said city Traffic Engineer John Van Winkle.
SPEED CAMERAS
* S curves on Hixson Pike
* Barton Avenue across from GPS
* South Crest Road just at the Georgia-Tennessee border
RED LIGHT CAMERAS
* M.L. King Boulevard and Pine Street
* Brainerd at Moore roads
* Northbound Highway 153 at Gadd Road
* Northbound Highway 153 at Hamill Road
* Fourth Avenue and 23rd Street
* Dayton Boulevard at Signal Mountain Road in Red Bank
* Dayton Boulevard at Ashland Terrace in Red Bank
The grants are being heralded as a good partnership in a county where driver education is not offered in public schools. Hamilton County Schools scrapped the program years ago and has been reluctant to restart it, citing the expense of insurance, cars, instructors and fuel.
"These tickets are going to save lives," said Missy Crutchfield, the city's Education, Arts and Culture Department administrator. "Teen drivers are dying, and they are also killing other drivers."
Ms. Crutchfield, whose department will administer the program, said the city is obtaining driver education books and has numerous corporate partners.
It is hoped the pilot program will see its first class by the end of the school year, she said.
Driver education classes cost about $400 on the private market, but city leaders plan to contract with driving instructors and offer classes at community centers.
Specifics on how the grants will be awarded have not yet been worked out, said Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield.
"We would like for it to be need-based, but that might be too hard to figure out," Mr. Beeland said. "The grants will pay for a significant portion of the registration fee, but it's kind of hard to just give anything away."
Students will be required to complete the course, which usually requires 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours behind the wheel, said Johnny Essex, owner of Essex Driving School on Mountain Creek Road.
"Driver's education is an investment," Mr. Essex said. "Think about all the lives lost, injuries and property damage caused by young, inexperienced drivers."
Mr. Essex said the grant program would be welcomed, though he is not involved in its development and hasn't heard any details about its implementation.
"I think driver's education is so important it should be mandatory," he said.
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Staff Photo by Dan Henry Johnny Essex, right, works with Hannah Davidson, an 18-year-old freshman at UTC, to complete a driver's education class as she tries to earn her driver's license. Chattanooga plans to provide grants for driver's education through it's traffic camera ticketing program.
City leaders agree. Mr. Littlefield holds this program out as a priority, Mr. Beeland said. They also hope the program will tamp down some of the negative feelings about the traffic-camera program.
"We knew that driver's education was something that was desired by the community," Mr. Van Winkle said. "We're putting this money to good use. It's not balancing our budget."
Mr. Littlefield, Mr. Beeland and Ms. Crutchfield said they've gotten tickets from the camera-enforcement program.
Red Bank, the other Hamilton County municipality with red-light cameras, directs proceeds from its program back to the general fund, said City Manager Chris Dorsey. That money helps pay police officers and a part-time clerk who helps administer the program, he said.
"Nobody likes getting a ticket, regardless of whether it's from an officer or from a camera," Mr. Beeland said. "We've all contributed to this fund."
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
Just another unauthorized tax on the people. The govt will nickle and dime us to death.
Constitutionally, you have the right to face your accuser. Speed and stop light cameras were made unlawful in NC. Fight back! Go to court and claim your constitutional rights have been violated!
So ticket writing quotas are alive and well within the Chattanooga city limits, despite the Supreme Court ruling they are illegal years ago.
I mean how else could you guarantee that the revenue raised from the traffic cams would be enough to consistently fund driver's ed. unless there were quotas to guarantee minimum funding.
Or is this just to give Ms. Crutchield a more useful position to justify her existence on the city cabinet ever since the Chattanooga Police Department called her out on whether public art is vital to the community or luxury expense for the city?
Ten bucks says they ticket county residents without the city sticker more than they do city residents as a retaliation over the pending annexation law suits.
THANK GOD that the government officials are making a wise and creative decision on this topic. Doesn't it make perfect sense for those that violate the law to fund the education of young people NOT to grow up and do so? Many of us get a little sloppy with following safety laws as we get older and need to be gently reminded they matter. A $50 ticket for a violation that could have hurt someone is a small price to pay. Congratulations on the leadership for coming up with funds to help young people be safer on the roads. Now, we need something better than brochures to teach them and old football coaches doing old drivers ed. Let's use computers and simulation like they do for pilots and police!!
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