Arizona to shut off highway speed cameras

Nicole Santa Cruz
LA Times
Friday, May 7, 2010

Arizona’s controversial — and widely despised — highway speed cameras are coming down.

The state’s Department of Public Safety sent a letter to the cameras’ operating company this week, stating that its 2-year contract would not be renewed. The agreement ends July 15, and the cameras will be turned off the next day.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The cameras, paired with radar devices, photograph vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more on state highways. A notice of violation — with a fine of $181.50 — was then sent to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner.

Motorists and lawmakers protested that the cameras were impractical in a state where people are accustomed to driving long, lonely stretches of road at high speeds. Citizens covered camera lenses with Silly String or Post-it sticky notes. Pressure had been mounting in the Legislature to end the program, and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer had denounced it.

Full story here.

This article was posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 at 1:28 pm

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