Drivers sped more on Chattanooga streets after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials from the police department and the city, which responded with speed limit reductions on eight city streets approved by the City Council at the end of March.
Among the areas with reduced speed limits is the portion of Hixson Pike that includes the S curves - and the city's only fixed speed enforcement camera - leading to renewed questions on whether citations issued by the private company that operates the camera are legally enforceable.
Although citations that come in the mail requesting a $50 fee be paid at zerofatality.com may seem sketchy, they are likely the real deal.
The state Legislature passed a bill in 2015 that banned unstaffed speed cameras - except for cameras located in school zones and on S curves.
Chattanooga Department of Transportation Administrator Blythe Bailey said the high number of crashes on that stretch of road are what helped the city lobby for its exclusion from the ban.
He said there were 325 traffic accidents on the S curves between 2000 and when the speed cameras were installed in June 2007. In the nine years after the cameras' installation there were 23 accidents, and there have been no fatalities since 2003, he said.
"The installation of the cameras did coincide with a significant reduction in crashes," Bailey said, adding that the reduction in crashes cannot be attributed entirely to the speed cameras, since high-friction pavement added to that stretch of road during the same time period likely helped reduce crashes as well.
The number of citations issued for photo-enforced speeding violations on the S curves rose from 15,309 in 2019 to 22,441 in 2020, according to Lt. Danny Jones, special operations commander for the Chattanooga Police Department.
"There's definitely an increase in speed, at least in the volume and the number of cars that are going through there," Jones said.
However, Bailey said the number of citations has actually decreased since the speed limit was lowered to 35 mph from 40 mph.
"There is a grace period," Bailey said. "We want folks to know about the new speed limit before we start giving tickets. We're trying to make people drive more safely; that's the goal here. It's not to collect money. It's amazing the difference that it makes on our streets when people slow down."
The decision to reduce the speed limit on Hixson Pike and elsewhere in the city was based on citizen requests, traffic studies and environmental factors such as proximity to a residential area, Jones said.
Bailey said the revenues from the photo enforcement fund don't go into the city budget. By city ordinance, those revenues must go into a fund used collaboratively by the city's transportation and police departments for education, enforcement or safety improvements.
Most recently the funds from speed camera citation fees have been used to better equip police vehicles for speed enforcement, with a goal of outfitting all cars with moving radar that alerts officers to speeders as they patrol neighborhoods rather than only while sitting still.
The city receives a certain amount of money per citation issued for speed camera violations, said Bailey, although he said he did not know the exact payment structure.
According to the one-year service agreement renewed by the city in 2020 with Orlando, Florida-based camera vendor NovoaGlobal (formerly Sensys America), the city pays a monthly fee of $27 per paid violation to NovoaGlobal.
A $50 civil fee is charged per violation and collected by the company on behalf of the city. NovoaGlobal installs, owns and monitors the city's traffic cameras and provides photo evidence of alleged violations to the Chattanooga Police Department. A department officer must review and approve the violations before citations are forwarded to the vehicle owner's address.
Citations can be contested in city court, but traffic camera violations are considered civil, noncriminal offenses so they don't go on a driver's record or affect their insurance costs. Unpaid fees "may be collected in the same manner as any other debt collected by the city," according to the service agreement.
District 2 City Councilwoman Jenny Hill, who represents the area, said she was not on the council in March when it unanimously passed the reduced speed limits on streets across the city.
Chattanooga speed limit reductions passed in March 2021:
> Bailey Avenue to 30 mph from Central Avenue to Dodds Avenue> Brainerd Road to 30 mph from McCallie Avenue tunnel to North Germantown Road, to 35 mph from North Germantown to Belvoir Avenue and to 40 mph from Belvoir to East Brainerd Road intersection> Glenwood Drive to 30 mph from Third Street to McCallie Avenue> Hixson Pike to 35 mph from Barton Avenue to Lupton Drive and 40 mph from Lupton to Adams Road> McCallie Avenue to 30 mph from Dodds Avenue overpass to Brainerd Road> Riverside Drive to 50 mph from Amnicola Highway to Mabel Street overpass, to 40 mph from Mabel Street overpass to Veterans Bridge, to 35 mph from Veterans Bridge overpass to Aquarium Way and to 30 mph from Aquarium Way to Olgiati Bridge> Shepherd Road to 40 mph from Airport Connector to State Route 153> St. Elmo Avenue to 25 mph from West 40th Avenue to city limits
"People who live along Hixson Pike are very concerned about speeding traffic, motorcycles in particular," she said, adding that she has received questions from constituents about the speed limit reduction but no complaints. "They want the road to be safer for everyone, including pedestrians, and slower traffic is safer traffic."
Business owners in the Riverview area have requested a lower speed limit on Hixson Pike since 2017 for the safety of customers.
Hixson Pike area resident Jonathan Barber said that based on his calculations, the reduced speed limit on the 3.1 mile stretch of Hixson Pike between Barton Avenue and Lupton Drive increases a commuter's drive time by about 40 seconds if they're going the speed limit.
"I think this a minor inconvenience to sacrifice in the name of safety," Barber said. "Hixson Pike is a local neighborhood road that is being utilized as a main artery between the downtown area and the Hixson area. Amnicola Highway and [Tennessee State Route] 319 are better suited for large commuter traffic, and I believe we should be encouraging more people to take this alternative route."
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.