Politics

Traffic Cameras Lose at the Polls

The little revenue machines went down wherever they appeared

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Tuesday proved to be another bad day for photo enforcement firms as they lost further ground at the ballot box. Questions on whether red light cameras or speed cameras ought to be banned came before municipal voters in California, New Jersey, Texas and Washington state.

Voters in League City, Texas spoke loudest against the use of red light cameras. At the end of the evening, 77 percent of the electorate sent a message to the city council that they wanted the automated ticketing machines removed.

"There is absolutely no doubt now that voters in Texas have resoundingly rejected the entire premise of photo enforcement," Byron Schirmbeck, director of League City Camera Scam, told TheNewspaper. "Five out of five times that voters in diverse cities and towns have been given a chance to have their say at the ballot box the cameras have been rejected by as much as 77 percent."