NASHVILLE -- Tennessee cities would have to follow stringent new rules when it comes to installing and operating traffic-enforcement cameras under an agreement worked out among some House lawmakers, municipal officials and traffic engineers.
"There's things that we can live with for sure," Chattanooga Assistant Police Chief Mike Williams said of the agreement.
He noted that Freeman Cooper, the city's just-retired police chief, had been involved in helping "to hammer those changes out. So from the highest level of our department, we were on board with it."
But plans to offer the agreement as an amendment to a pending bill, however, were delayed when Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Harmon, D-Dunlap, incorporated the amendment into his own proposal. He then delayed further consideration, giving all sides a chance to examine it before bringing it back next week.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield's special assistant, Matt Lea, said officials had "worked really hard to come up with some good standards." He said officials were surprised when they learned Chairman Harmon planned to offer his own changes. The city will have to examine the differences, he said.
Chairman Harmon's version goes further in several areas than the agreement worked out with Chattanooga and other officials with Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram.
For example, under the agreement with Rep. Johnson, motorists caught running a red light or speeding still would pay the current $50 fine and be subject to additional penalties if the fine was not paid on a timely basis. Chairman Harmon's proposal says no extra fines or costs may be assessed for late payments.
There are several other differences too, Chairman Harmon said.
During the committee hearing, Rep. John Tidwell, D-New Johnsonville, immediately criticized any plan to keep the $50 fines in place. It should be a graduated fee, increasing as violations accumulate, he said. He also wasn't happy with the input cities had.
"It was loaded with people who wanted this thing to happen, so it's destiny was that," he said.
Among other things, the agreement worked out with Rep. Johnson would require a municipality to try other "reasonable" engineering solutions before considering traffic cameras.
A traffic engineering study must be done prior to installing any red-light or speed-detection cameras. Studies must follow professional engineering standards, and they cannot be done by any traffic-enforcement camera vendors, the agreement states.
Also, an intersection crash history must establish rates higher than statewide crash rates for 3 years -- or one year in special circumstances. Angle or T-bone crashes must account for at least 10 percent of the crash rate under the agreement.
Other provisions provide standards on yellow- and red-light timing.
All contracts with vendors would have to be submitted to the state comptroller, who may audit any city's use of traffic enforcement cameras. A certified police officer must view photo evidence and issue the citation, the agreement states.
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