Could Tennessee finally hit the brakes on red-light cameras?
After Texas banned redlight cameras last month, joining at least seven other states, Tennessee could be next.
A state lawmaker who has long crusaded against traffic enforcement cameras is planning to introduce an outright ban during the 2020 legislative session.
Red-light and speeding cameras have generated controversy in Tennessee and nationwide for more than a decade, but the opposition is now gaining ground. More U.S. cities have discontinued red-light cameras than added them since 2012, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
But a proposal to ban them statewide would meet opposition from local governments and police that rely on the revenue.
Supporters say cameras reduce the number of “T-bone” crashes and are a bonus for government coffers. Opponents say the cameras are more about generating money for private camera contractors and local governments than about safety, and that they increase rear-end collisions. Both sides cite studies to back up their claims.
“We have privatized police power in this process,” said Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden. “It’s all based on generating revenue.”
Holt has been eyeing the Texas legislative ban, which takes effect in September. He tasked Paul Overholser, the researcher for the House Finance, Ways & Means Committee, to study the issue.
One obstacle to the General Assembly passing a ban, Overholser said, is that the state would have to cover the local governments’ losses for at least a year, according to state law. But this coming year’s budget is forecast to have a healthy surplus, he said, so this may be the year to try.
Last legislative session, Holt was handed a defeat after he introduced legislation that would have forced cities to pay non-refundable court fees for each camera violation issued. Amid opposition from the Memphis Police Department and Memphis legislators, the bill died in committee.
About 16 Tennessee cities use red-light cameras, and 13 use speed cameras, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts an informal survey.
Chattanooga began disbanding its program in 2015, with the last intersection cameras expected to go offline in 2017. The speed cameras on the Hixson Pike S-curves are still in use, covered under state law.
The revenue can be meaningful for cities large and small. Memphis made $3.8 million from red-light cameras in fiscal 2018 alone, according to the city budget. Memphis officials say they significantly reduced the most dangerous types of collisions at intersections with cameras. Nashville doesn’t have any enforcement cameras.
Union City, a West Tennessee town with a population of 10,500, received an average of $253,000 a year in recent years from its red-light and speed cameras. That money is used for road maintenance, said police Chief Perry Barfield.
Chattanooga earned about $155,000 from speed camera citations in 2013, and another $681,000 in 2014, according to newspaper archives.
“A monetary fine is the only way to get people’s behavior to change,” Barfield said. “It’s as much a deterrent as it is enforcement.”
That amount is less than half of the total paid fines in Union City, though, as 55% went to Redflex, the city’s vendor, according to city records. Each city with traffic cameras negotiates its own terms.
State law limits traffic camera fines to $50 each.
A representative from Redflex did not respond to a request for comment. Its main competitor, Verra Mobility, defended traffic enforcement cameras in an emailed statement.
“Each year more than 1,000 people in Tennessee lose their lives in trafficrelated fatalities,” Verra Mobility spokeswoman Celeste Peterson said. “We should be focusing on laws to enhance road safety, not impede them.”
Holt, who urges people to ignore their camera violation fines, gained headlines in 2016 by burning a paper citation on video and posting it to Facebook.
That year Holt successfully sponsored a bill that requires traffic camera companies to include a statement on citations that reads, “non-payment of this notice cannot adversely affect your credit score or report, driver’s license, and/or automobile insurance rates.”
In 2015, he introduced a bill that banned new contracts for speeding cameras, except those on S-curves and in school zones. Before the law took effect, however, some cities renewed their agreements with camera companies, allowing their speed cameras to remain in place for decades.
For residents worried about whether they have to pay a ticket, the first thing to know is that it is a civil penalty, not a criminal offense. State law classifies traffic camera citations as non-moving violations. That means they they cannot count against driver’s license points. Also, the law prohibits camera companies and cities from notifying credit agencies about unpaid fines.
But companies can assess fees and court costs against people who don’t pay their tickets. What happens when those fines continue to go unpaid is up to the cities and companies.
Each Tennessee city negotiates the terms of fines collection with its camera vendor. Depending on the arrangement, a city or company could send the unpaid fines to a debt collection agency or even take a violator to civil court. In practice, though, both of those practices are rare. The costs associated with court, especially, would outweigh the $50 fine.