If New Jersey's red light camera program is all about safety, then the money collected from tickets should go to directly into a safety fund, instead of bolstering municipal budgets and using citizens as "cash cows", Sen. Michael Doherty announced today.

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The well-known critic of red light camera systems has drafted a bill to redirect red light camera ticket revenues from municipal budgets and into the State's Highway Safety Fund.

Doherty believes that if local mayors actually care about safety then they should support his bill.

"Under current law, most red light camera ticket revenues go to supporting bloated municipal budgets, which is unproductive,” said Doherty in a release. “Since increasing safety is supposedly the goal of red light cameras, we should put ticket revenues to productive use in the Highway Safety Fund which is dedicated to making New Jersey’s roads safer.”

But he's betting that most local officials would abandon red light camera programs if they weren't getting a cut of the ticket revenues.

Ticket Revenues the Real Reason for Program, Senator Alleges

“How many towns and local officials will continue to demand the opportunity to install red light cameras or fight to keep the cameras they already have if their share of ticket revenues is cut off?,” said Doherty.

“My guess is very few. That will prove that the real purpose of red light cameras is to use citizens as a cash cow to fund big government,” Doherty says.

The Senator's bill would order towns to deposit all red light camera ticket revenues into New Jersey's Highway Safety Fund.

NJ's Highway Safety Fund is Used For:

  • Highway safety projects/programs
  • Educational programs
  • Capital Improvements
  • Dept. of Transportation initiatives
  • State Police highway safety programs

 

In May, Doherty introduced a bill in May to ban the use of red light camera systems by municipalities, at the time saying, "I don't like the idea of ‘Big Brother’ watching us on every street corner and I don’t see any evidence that it’s made New Jersey’s roads any safer.”

Doherty sponsored an online petition in support of banning the use of red light camera systems in the State. He has more than 6,000 electronic signitures.

This report includes information from previously published articles on NJ1015.com

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