The red light camera bill

The General Assembly has been after red light camera tickets for a while now, based on citizen complaints and concerns about several issues; including the appropriateness of using them at all. Now legislators have passed a bill (at least, the House bill passed the Senate - I'm not clear if any changes were made to send back to the House) that brings the DOT in as a permitting agent.

That may be a great idea, particularly since it's no secret that some communities use these cameras to generate revenue as opposed to putting them in place to improve public safety.

But is there anyone out there saying "Yeah, the Georgia Department of Transportation - they've got their act together. Let's give them more responsibility."

Will the DOT have to hire any one new to handle this? And how do you determine the intention of a red light camera? Doesn't keeping people from running red lights kind of improve safety, you know, period?

These are the relevant sections of House Bill 77. The DOT would have 3 months to review applications for permits:

(c) The Department of Transportation is authorized to prescribe by appropriate rules and regulations the manner and procedure in which applications shall be made for traffic-control signal monitoring device permits and to prescribe the required information to be submitted by an applicant consistent with the requirements of this title. The Department of Transportation may deny an application or suspend or revoke a permit for failure of the governing authority to provide requested information or documentation or for any other violation of this article or violation of the rules and regulations of the department.

(d) An application for the operation of a traffic-control signal monitoring device by a governing authority shall name the intersection at which the device is to be used and provide demonstrable evidence that there is a genuine safety need for the use of such device at the designated intersection. The documented safety need for each designated intersection shall be approved by the Department of Transportation in accordance with nationally recognized safety standards. For each designated intersection, the governing authority shall conduct a traffic engineering study to determine whether, in addition to or as an alternative to the traffic-control signal monitoring device, there are other possible design or operational changes likely to reduce the number of accidents or red light violations at that intersection. This report shall be submitted with the application for an operation permit required under these provisions and any request to amend the operation permit to include an additional intersection.

(e) The revenue generated by the use of a traffic-control signal monitoring device shall not be considered when determining whether to issue a permit for the operation of such devices at a designated intersection. The only consideration shall be the increased life-saving safety value by the use of such a device at the designated intersection.