Jim Beam column:Traffic cameras are targeted

Members of the current Louisiana Legislature know motorists don’t like speed cameras or similar devices that catch speeders and other traffic law violators. That is why they passed one law at their recent session to help  drivers and wiped another one off the books.

Three other legislators had traffic camera bills that didn’t make it.

Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, wanted to strictly prohibit the use of automated speed enforcement devices, mobile speed cameras and red light cameras. Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, had a similar bill. Both measures failed to make it out of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Marksville, had legislation that said local authorities couldn’t impose fines or penalties resulting from images produced by traffic cameras if there is no photograph of the driver. It also had other restrictions.

Deshotel’s bill passed the House 86-7. However, it never got out of the Senate Transportation Committee.

State Sen. Stewart Cathey Jr., R-Monroe, sponsored Senate Bill 302 that passed both the House and Senate unanimously and was signed by the governor.

The new state law makes it much easier to appeal speeding camera tickets. The Advocate said it also allows motorists to beg off camera tickets issued during stormy weather or when someone else is driving their car.

School districts now will get a share of the profits from those camera tickets that are given in school zones. And the law seriously restricts the use of handheld automated enforcement devices.

Police will still be able to pull drivers over for speeding. However, if a town or city wants to use mobile speed cameras that result in a mail-issued citation —rather than a one-on-one interaction with a cop — they face new rules.

Cathey said he sponsored the law amid complaints from constituents and out of concerns that automated speeding enforcement systems are used to take advantage of poor Louisianans for revenue-generating purposes.

“Rural Louisiana is pretty much the poorest area in the country and so these people are preying on the poorest of the poor,” Cathey said. “I have zero respect for the company that’s doing it, and I’ll be honest, I’d love to be able to put them out of business.”

Supporters of those cameras say they keep roads safer, especially in school zones. One company said its programs reduced speeding in Shreveport school zones by 95%.

Republican Sens. Blake Miguez of New Iberia and Caleb Kleinpeter sponsored SB 379 that repeals a 2022 law that doubled speeding fines on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge and killed plans to install cameras on the bridge. It also passed unanimously.

Former Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, sponsored the 2022 law setting up cameras on the basin bridge. His bill passed the Senate unanimously and 78-12 in the House. Cortez drove on the bridge daily getting from Lafayette to Baton Rouge and told legislators about speeders and some of his harrowing experiences on the bridge.

Passage of the laws that limit traffic camera enforcement in cities and do away with cameras altogether on the basin bridge will definitely have a safety impact. Only time will tell how serious that may be.

Motorists definitely don’t like those cameras, but that isn’t all. Many of them don’t like speed limits, stop signs, red lights and traffic enforcement of almost any kind.

Lewis Smith of Slidell had an interesting letter in The Advocate in June about traffic in the New Orleans area. The experiences Smith has had are similar to some occurring every day in this area.

“It’s as if police stopped enforcing basic traffic laws,” was the headline on his letter. I have heard many similar complaints from area motorists.

Smith said, “In recent times, I have witnessed a dramatic disregard for basic traffic laws. It’s almost as if laws are mere suggestions. I am not referring only to speeding either. It’s also running red lights in broad daylight, not just rolling through stop signs but flat-out running them. Red lights, ha! Yellow means floor it. Pedestrians are classed as moving targets…”

Smith said while driving with his wife she noticed the lack of respect for simple traffic laws. Local motorists are having some of the same experiences that Smith talked about. Traffic enforcement is hard to find these days.

Jim Beam , the retired editor of the American Press , has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.