Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Traffic safety advocates Paul and Sue Oberhauser applaud Norristown's decision to implement red light camera enforcement.
- OPINION
-
Wednesday, January 9
We are pleased Norristown is moving forward with the authorization of life-saving traffic safety cameras (“Red Light Cameras Get the 'Green Light' in Norristown,” 1/8). We recently commemorated the tenth anniversary of the death of our daughter Sarah. She was killed by a red-light runner when she was only 31 years old. Since then, it has become our mission to advocate for safety initiatives that reduce crashes and prevent needless deaths. The bottom line is, when it comes to saving lives, photo enforcement works. A 2011 study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded traffic safety cameras reduce fatal red light running crashes by 24%, saving 159 lives in the 14 largest cities using them. Locally, safety cameras at …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Council voted to approve an ordinance Monday night authorizing the use of "automated red light enforcement systems."
Council voted 6-1 to adopt Ordinance 13-02 authorizing the use of automated red light enforcement systems, or red light cameras, in Norristown at its Monday, Jan. 7 meeting. The state legislature passed a bill in June giving certain Montgomery County municipalities the option to adopt the practice and council discussed the issue at a Dec. 18 meeting where it decided to move forward with the project on the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee and the Norristown Police Department. Intersections suggested for possible red light camera deployment include Markley and Main streets, West Main Street and Forrest Avenue and West Main Street and Haws Avenue. The final determination would be made by council with recommendations made by the …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Of note on tonight's short agenda is a discussion of automated red light enforcement systems, an option made available by recent state legislation.
Norristown Municipal Council meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Norristown Municipal Hall, 235 E. Airy Street for the final time in 2012. The agenda is short with scheduled adoptions the 2013 Municipal Budget, the 2013 Community Development Block Grant budget and changes to the zoning map for the former Kennedy-Kenrick High School site among other business. Also on the agenda is a discussion of automated red light enforcement systems, or red light cameras. The state legislature passed a bill in June giving certain Montgomery County municipalities the option to adopt the practice and some local municipalities (like Abington) are considering it. Until now, municipal council has not addressed the issue. You can download the full agenda for tonight…
Saturday, June 30, 2012
The state legislature passed a bill to allow red light cameras in Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties.
According to a release issued by AAA MId-Atlantic, the Pennsylvania legislature is wrapping up its session with a bill to allow red light cameras in the Philadelphia suburbs and in Pittsburgh. House Bill 254 passed handily in the state Senate on Friday, June 29, with 34 yeas and only 15 nays and if signed into law by Gov. Corbett, would reauthorize the red light camera program in Philadelphia through July 2017, but would also allow for the cameras to be used in some municipalities in Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties as well as Pittsburgh. Municipalities eligible for the red light cameras would have to exceed 20,000 residents and have full-time police forces accredited by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association. That makes …
Trevor Jordet
1:37 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
I'm not completely opposed to traffic cams, but just so there is full disclosure: this letter is from an organization that is funded by people who make money from traffic cams: The Traffic Safety Coalition is funded by the traffic safety camera industry and its supporters to assist ongoing advocacy and education efforts of traffic safety experts, law enforcement, public officials, victims' …   more ›