Even as residents challenge traffic cameras in court and the state legislature stalls debate on the controversial practice, police and engineers say drivers are getting the message.
Since 2005 in Red Bank and 2006 in Chattanooga traffic cameras have snapped photos of speeders and red-light runners in an effort to “change behavior” of drivers.
Though critics say the cameras are a ploy to raise revenues, Chattanooga traffic engineer John Van Winkle said each camera location is chosen carefully after analyzing a year’s worth of data on crashes and violations. “We determine the type of collisions potentially reduced by installing a camera,” he said.
Since Chattanooga’s first cameras were installed on the Hixson Pike S-Curves in 2006 there has been a 90 percent reduction in violations, Mr. Van Winkle said. From 2000 to 2004 there were eight fatalities in the curves; in 2001 alone there were 100 crashes. For 2009, there were four crashes.
But some residents say the cameras may not be constitutional. Tyler Geren, of Chattanooga, and Daniel Houston, of Ringgold, Ga., are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that claims the city’s ordinances were passed “contrary to state law.”
Chattanooga attorney Jonathan Guthrie, who is representing the plaintiffs, is seeking reimbursement to all potential plaintiffs that could total $10 million.
City attorneys said in April that they would fight the suit.
Tennessee appeals courts ruled in favor of the laws in cases concerning constitutionality of cameras, and the attorney general also wrote an opinion stating that the cameras pass constitutional muster.
Rumblings in the Legislature that a moratorium on new contracts could halt camera installation and other additions prompted Red Bank officials to sign a 12-year contract for red-light cameras in January.
Chattanooga’s contract with LaserCraft Technology is in place for at least the next two years.
Sgt. Gary Martin with the Chattanooga police department said, “At this point it’s leveled as far as complaints go. Most people are just accepting it for what it is.”