A traffic camera is used to ticket speeders on Barton Avenue.State Sen. Todd Gardenhire says traffic cameras are Big Brother, with an eye on your life and a hand in your pocket, and he wants no more of them.
In “Tennessee Freedom from Traffic Cameras Act,” the Chattanooga Republican calls traffic cameras “a form of mass surveillance over ordinary and innocent Tennessee motorists.” He says they deny people’s constitutional right to face and cross-examine their accuser in court, “because the accuser is a machine.”
And the money generated by the tickets often goes to out-of-state companies, he adds.
State senator Todd Gardenhire speaks to the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club during their luncheon in this file photo.“Millions of dollars every year leave our economy at the cost of our constitutional rights and the aforementioned constitutional rights do not have a price-tag,” according to the proposed law.
Gardenhire said Friday he and House sponsor Andy Holt, R-Dresden, had been discussing traffic camera legislation for some time and this session just seemed like the right time.