Subject: SB 144, red light cameras- will be heard Wednesday 3/26: Calls and emails needed The Senate camera scheme repeal bill has been rescheduled from last week. It will now be heard on Wednesday March 26, 2014 at 1:30 PM in room 37 of the Senate Office Building. I will be attending in support of the bill. Since it was last scheduled, two important things have happened: The cities of Tampa and Palm Bay have voted to do away with the camera scheme. These cities join St. Petersburg, Margate, and Cocoa Beach in dropping the scheme in 2014. A March 20 news story from the Orlando Sentinel reports Apopka is considering dropping the scheme. Apopka is the largest money maker in central Florida, and was the 2nd city in Florida to use the scheme. It has consistently sent government lobbyists to Tallahassee to support the scheme since 2011. Please let the below Senators know that the writing is on the wall- the people of Florida recognize an unjust scheme when they see one and are demanding action. The Legislature gave us this bad law in 2010, and they must take it away in 2014. The below information is recycled from the prior email. At the last hearing, several camera scheme proponents- all government lobbyists and there on our tax dollar- spoke in favor of the scheme. What I noticed was that they realize the safety argument has been lost since red light violation crash data cannot support it. The talking point now being pushed is how the scheme changes driver behavior. This is usually supported by fewer violations being issued, such as Tampas drop from over 6,000/month in March 2013 to under 2,400 in February 2014. What is not mentioned by scheme supporters is that the cities were forced to add just 4/10 of a second to their yellow time last fall (thanks to work by WTSP investigative journalist Noah Pransky), and after this took place, fewer violations were seen. Think what could happen if a full second were used. One supporter did comment how the scheme saves lives. In that regard, in your calls and emails to the below list, please share the following points taken from the Department of Highway Safetys Traffic Crash Facts annual publication (exception- 2011 data never published by the state, gleaned from a scheme vendor news release): Fatal red light violation crashes in Florida, past 9 years (2013 not yet published): 2004: 96 2005: 96 2006: 123 2007: 107 2008: 76 2009: 56 2010: 53 (Camera scheme law effective July 1, 2010) 2011: 76 2012: 56 Two main points can be seen: Without the use of a camera scheme, fatal crashes fell by more than half from 2006-2009. In the first full year of the scheme (2011) there was a huge increase. One thing that was pointed out by several senators on another bill was that they had not heard anything from anyone on the issue. Im sure that is not the case with the camera scheme, but nonetheless we should use the time to redouble our efforts to convince the committee members via their listed aides that they must vote for repeal. I have included Sen. Clemens in this list although I consider him a lost cause due to his filing of a amendment to SB 1342 last session that gutted the camera scheme reform bill and turned it 180 degrees. Sen. Brandes (SPONSOR) Chris Spencer 850-487-5022 [email protected] Sen. Margolis Terri Jo Kennedy 850-487-5035 [email protected] Sen. Diaz de la Portilla Patricia Gosney 850-487-5040 [email protected] Sen. Evers (CO-SPONSOR) Dave Murzin 850-487-5002 [email protected] Sen. Garcia David Marin 850-487-5038 [email protected] Sen. Joyner Randi Rosete 850-487-5019 [email protected] Sen. Lee Douglas Roberts 850-487-5024 [email protected] Sen. Richter Michael Nachef 850-487-5023 | [email protected] Sen. Thompson Roosevelt Holmes 850-487-5012 [email protected] Sen. Clemens Chauncey Graham 850-487-5027 [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 00:34:45 +0000
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