Delaware State News

DOVER — With less than 24 hours left in the General Assembly’s session, new bills continue to be added to this year’s agenda in hopes of getting them through before the legislative year ends tonight. However, the pressing budget and ticking clock may overshadow the passing of these last-minute additions.

One such bill is House Bill 197, which proposes a new way to promote safety on Delaware roads.

HB 197 would establish a two-year pilot program to authorize any Delaware police agency to initiate camera and video enforcement of speed limits within a quarter mile of any work or school zone.

The new system would be similar to the red-light cameras currently utilized nationwide. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gerald L. Brady, D-Wilmington, was inspired by this technology as a Wilmington city councilman in 1999.

"It is the exact same technology as E-Z-Pass, which is the measurement of rate, distance and speed," he said. "It is all web film about distance, range, motion and speed.

"The reason for this was to validate the program as an effective technology in the most critical zones," Rep. Brady said. "A school zone’s number-one priority is the safety of children, and in work zones, the number-one priority is the safety of workers."

According to the 2009 AAA Public Opinion Poll in Delaware, 66 percent of drivers supported the use of speed cameras in school zones and 47 percent supported their installation in work zones.

"The objective is really not the open road, but it’s in the areas that are very congested and you cannot traditionally maintain or manage and effectively enforce the speed zone," Rep. Brady said. "It’s difficult for the patrol officers to establish a full cycle of application because you have to set up, catch the person, check the speed, follow the person, pull them over, and then, you’ve created congestion in an area that’s already maximized."

Work zones are typically compressed or condensed areas, as well, limited by certain physical barriers, making them equally crucial to the bill, Rep. Brady said.

"These cameras alleviate any additional infrastructure or equipment that you would have to employ in order to traditionally catch someone speeding," he said.

The speed monitoring systems authorized under the pilot program would produce recorded images of motor vehicles traveling at least 11 miles per hour above the posted speed limit.

"It is fast but it allows for diminished criticism," Rep. Brady said. "It sends the message that we even allowed 11 miles over — we had the bar up high and they were still in excess of that."

Violations would be subject to a civil assessment not to exceed $50. They would not be subject to points or to be made a part of a person’s driving records. Procedures for issuing, contesting and paying a notice of violation would be the same as for traffic light signal violations.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. John L. Mitchell Jr., D-Elsmere, sees the pilot as an additional resource for law enforcement.

"Right now with our economy, we don’t have enough police officers out there, but we also have to be mindful of the safety of the motorists on the roadway," he said. "This is a resource I think can be used in order to monitor unsafe traffic and speeds for police officers who can’t actually be there."

The bill’s sponsors were in correspondence with multiple police and traffic agencies throughout the state regarding the program. These agencies include the Delaware State Police and DelDOT.

Rep. Brady said that if the pilot is approved and goes well, he would like to expand the bill to include major highways and other roadways.

"Once we complete the pilot program of one year, we would then come back to the General Assembly and expand based on those statistics that, indeed, this has validated and authenticated itself," he said.