Ga. lawmakers advance bill to ban school zone speed cameras
ATLANTA, Ga. - A bill that would ban school zone speed cameras indefinitely has been ed by the state House of Representatives motor vehicles committee.
State Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, said more than 90 lawmakers co-signed the bill.
“It is wrong; it is entrapment,” Washburn said. “You will not believe how many people we have heard from since I announced I was going to file this bill.”
Rep. Ron Stephens says after hearing of too many cases where people have been cited by defective cameras, a ban on them makes sense.
Ga. House backs bill targeting speed-trap towns, including 7 in CSRA
A bill that would pump the brakes on a longtime police practice generating millions of dollars in revenue for Georgia small cities was ed out of a state House of Representatives subcommittee.
“It’s crazy that we’ve gotten to this point, where the fear of these cameras is so bad, that you’re gonna drive out of your way to avoid the area altogether,” said Rep. Ron Stephens.
Public records from 54 Georgia municipalities reveal the cameras generated at least $112 million in revenue from at least 2019 to May 2024.
That amount does not include the revenue collected from the camera operators.
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Since Georgia legislators ed a law giving municipalities authority to use the cameras, police departments jumped at opportunities to install them. In 2019, the Georgia Department of Transportation approved 39 camera permits. By 2024, there were 290 approved permits.
The tickets are civil penalties; they don’t impact drivers’ licenses, but if left unpaid, drivers can’t renew their Georgia vehicle registrations. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue in September, that happened to 133,000 people.
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