With the blatantly ballooning Big Brotheria wildly manifesting as AUTOMATED TICKETING SYSTEMS, RED-LIGHT CAMERAS, STOP-SIGN CAMERAS, SCHOOL BUS CAMERAS, UNMANNED RADAR, and all that ilk, it’s worth noting that these evils were historically not allowed but also not disallowed. So: Traffic Cameras, Flock, etc are technocratic cancers grown in legal grey areas. Since all evil is done by a few bad actors allowed by the collective ignorance and inaction of most good men, let’s examine who did what and when.
Washington, DC summary:
DC automated enforcement
Red-light cameras
- Current authority: D.C. Code §§ 50-2209.01–50-2209.03 — automated traffic enforcement system.
- Original enabling law: D.C. Law 11-198 / Bill 11-741, Fiscal Year 1997 Budget Support Act, Title IX.
- Introduced by: Chairman David A. Clarke
- Introduced: June 4, 1996
- Signed/enacted: July 26, 1996
- Mayor: Marion Barry
- Act: A11-0360
- Effective: Apr. 9, 1997
- Effect: Authorized Mayor to use automated traffic enforcement systems for moving infractions; recorded images are prima facie evidence.
Speed cameras / automated speed enforcement
- Same authority: D.C. Code § 50-2209.01 broadly authorizes ATE for moving infractions, including speed.
- Expansion planning law: D.C. Law 19-307 / Bill 19-1013, Safety-Based Traffic Enforcement Amendment Act of 2012.
- Introduced by: Councilmembers Tommy Wells, Marion Barry, Mary Cheh
- Introduced: Oct. 16, 2012
- Enacted without mayoral signature: Feb. 12, 2013
- Mayor: Vincent Gray
- Act: A19-0674
- Effective: May 1, 2013
- Effect: Added D.C. Code § 50-2209.11, requiring an automated enforcement expansion plan, including red-light, speed, fixed, and mobile cameras.
Stop-sign cameras
- Current statute: D.C. Code § 50-2209.11
- Specific mandated deployment added/expanded by D.C. Law 24-167 / Bill 24-714, Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Act of 2022.
- Introduced by: Chairman Phil Mendelson at request of Mayor
- Introduced: Mar. 16, 2022
- Signed/enacted: July 25, 2022
- Mayor: Muriel Bowser
- Act: A24-0492
- Effective: Sept. 21, 2022
- Effect: Required at least 6 stop-sign ATE cameras by Jan. 1, 2023 and 29 by Jan. 1, 2024, along with red-light, speed, and bus-lane camera counts.
School-bus stop-arm cameras
- No DC school-bus stop-arm automated-ticketing statute found.
- DC law has bus-lane automated enforcement cameras, but I did not find a PA/VA-style school-bus stop-arm camera program.
Other key ATE amendments
- D.C. Law 19-187 / Bill 19-244, Automated Traffic Enforcement Amendment Act of 2012
- Introduced by: Chairman Kwame Brown at request of Mayor
- Introduced: Apr. 13, 2011
- Signed: Aug. 6, 2012 by Mayor Vincent Gray
- Effective: Oct. 23, 2012
- Added protections re license suspension for ATE nonpayment/nonresponse.
- D.C. Law 23-158 / Bill 23-288, Vision Zero Enhancement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020
- Introduced by: Councilmembers Allen, Bonds, R. White, McDuffie, Nadeau, Grosso, Silverman, Todd
- Signed: Nov. 2, 2020 by Mayor Muriel Bowser
- Effective: Dec. 23, 2020
- Further amended traffic safety / ATE framework.
Bottom line
DC has one of the broadest ATE regimes: red-light, speed, stop-sign, and bus-lane cameras are authorized/mandated under D.C. Code §§ 50-2209.01 and 50-2209.11. I found no school-bus stop-arm camera program.