Texas red light camera legislation

I noticed that SB 1119 was enrolled today. It aims to clean up the state laws around red light cameras. The first point it aims to fix is a big one:

Municipalities are currently installing photographic traffic signal enforcement systems (red light cameras) based on an attorney general opinion, but have no statutory authority to do so.

It mainly focuses on making sure municipalities don’t exploit this as a revenue opportunity. They can’t share revenue with companies that provide red light service. They can’t report violations to a credit bureau. They must conduct a traffic engineering study of the intersection to make sure it has a legitimate safety purpose. I don’t see anything about penalties if a municipality ignores the law.

It also addresses some of my gripes. The written request for a hearing can be sent in 30 days instead of the 2 weeks I think I had. You can request an affidavit that the equipment is in good working order. The current process in Dallas doesn’t explicitly allow for that.

Nice to see good government at work.