Red-light Ordinance Faces Fight In Austin

[jghall00]

The city's plan to nab red-light violators with cameras could be headed for a screeching halt in the state Legislature.

State Rep. Gary Elkins of Houston, a Republican who led opposition to camera enforcement of red lights in the 2003 Legislature, already has filed a bill to kill the ordinance council passed this week. At least two Democratic lawmakers, Sylvester Turner and Garnet Coleman, also oppose it.

"We are very supportive of the city on a lot of things it wants to do, but the city has got to know the Legislature has been adamantly opposed to red-light cameras during at least the last five sessions," Elkins said.

Elkins said he has met with many area legislators, and there is "overwhelming support" to put a roadblock in the way of Houston's ordinance. The city hoped to start using cameras to issue tickets in at least 10 dangerous intersections by April, and to expand the program to as many as 50 intersections.

Elkins said he is worried that vendors of camera systems, who are frequently paid a portion of ticket revenues, will manipulate the timing of traffic lights to issue more tickets and maximize profits.

Such accusations were leveled against vendors in California lawsuits that led to the dismissal of hundreds of tickets.

"The potential for greed will lead to a potential for manipulation," Elkins said.

The city has not yet decided if it will pay a vendor chosen through competitive bidding a flat fee or a percentage of ticket revenues.

The Democratic legislators voiced privacy concerns.

"There's been a proliferation of cameras to monitor people, particularly by cameras controlled by the government," Coleman said. "What (state) legislators make decisions on and what the city makes decisions on are totally different. We as state legislators look out for things like privacy rights."

Mayor Bill White said it will be one of his top priorities in the legislative session to convince lawmakers not to fight Houston's ordinance, citing national studies that show red-light cameras have increased safety in many of the more than 100 cities that use them.

"If the people in Austin don't want us to use technology, then we'd be happy if the state gave us more money to hire more officers," White said.

Turner said many state legislators "would be inclined to support" Elkins' bill. He said he opposes Houston's ordinance because he thinks "government sometimes can go too far."

Turner said he also is concerned about the unfairness of Houston issuing $75 civil citations and no driving penalty points to violators caught with cameras. In contrast, he said, drivers caught by police in Houston or in almost all other areas of the state would be issued more expensive criminal citations, currently $215 in Houston, that could lead the loss of driving privileges.

Under Texas law, running a red light is a Class C misdemeanor that can only be regulated by the state, even though local governments are in charge of enforcement. In 2003, the House voted 103-34 not to allow cities to use cameras to issue criminal citations to red-light violators.

In 2002, then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued an opinion saying the city of Richardson could not use cameras for civil citations because it would infringe on the state's jurisdiction.

State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, inserted an amendment in the 2003 transportation bill giving cities the right to regulate transportation matters civilly or criminally.

Elkins, Coleman and Turner said Harper-Brown "sneaked" the amendment through at the end of the 2003 session because other legislators were not told it could lead to the use of cameras to issue civil citations for red-light violations.

Elkins' bill proposes to eliminate the amendment.

Harper-Brown has not returned repeated Chronicle calls.

Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said he would determine whether the city would repeal its ordinance if Elkins' bill is approved, but acknowledged the Harper-Brown amendment "buttresses" the city's claim that it can issue civil citations.

[jghall00]

Here's the text of a letter I wrote to Elkins, Turner, and Coleman.

I wanted to voice my opposition to your plan to prevent the city of Houston from installing red light cameras. Houston has an accident rate 1/3 higher then the next largest major city (Philadelphia), and nearly three times as high as New York.

The simple fact is that Houston has a driving culture that disregards traffic laws; this results in higher accident and fatality rates, as well as higher insurance rates for all of us.

I resent your attempt to limit our local elected officials ability to address this problem. Unless you're proposing a workable solution, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from limiting our ability to effectively govern ourselves at the local level.