It had been obvious for some time that Gov. John Hickenlooper would block any bill banning the use of photo radar and red-light cameras by cities, so his veto this week of Senate Bill 276 was anti-climactic.
If there was any suspense over the extent of his protective attitude toward cameras, it had to do with House Bill 1098, which required a local vote before their use. But he vetoed that one, too, unfortunately, and so the 10 local governments that now use them — sometimes for purposes that go beyond legitimate safety motives — are free to carry on undisturbed.
We’re not sure why a municipality using the cameras in a restrained and appropriate way would fear a citizen referendum. Nor do we understand, on the flip side, why the governor would want a town to stick with a traffic strategy that its citizens opposed. But the governor’s and the Colorado Municipal League’s positions are now abundantly clear.
However, Hickenlooper did offer in his veto message constructive ideas for reform of the use of photo radar and red-light cameras. He urged lawmakers to pass a bill in 2016 limiting the cameras to school zones, construction and roadway work zones, and areas with “disproportionately high traffic and pedestrians accidents, injuries and fatalities.” And he suggested fines be used solely for traffic safety improvements and enforcement, rather than go into general operating funds.
This isn’t the first time the governor has made these recommendations. He also put them in a letter to lawmakers in April. But the veto message represented a welcome refinement of his ideas, too, since he excluded one from April that could have been exploited by local governments to put automated cameras just about anywhere.
We’d like to see lawmakers also bar municipalities from using red-light cameras to ticket motorists whose front tires creep into a crosswalk before stopping. While it is true that these violations can represent sloppy or inconsiderate driving, some of them do not. Sometimes drivers who have every expectation of getting through a light before it turns red, for example, find themselves having to stop suddenly because of the unexpected behavior of another driver — or pedestrian.
Nevertheless, the governor’s ideas are an excellent starting place for reform — and he should follow through with them.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit or check out our for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
