Speed cameras on freeways? Seems like a quick way to make roads safer
Jan 26, 2023, 5:02 AM
We have them in school zones, and we have them at intersections, is it time to put speed cameras on the freeways to keep speeds down?
2022 was the deadliest year on Washington’s roads in several decades, as 745 people were killed, eclipsing the number of fatalities in 2021 (670).
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It is against that backdrop that the legislature is looking for ways to make things safer for those who work on our state’s roads. We talked about the tow truck driver bill earlier this session, which would allow them to put blue lights on their trucks for better visibility.
Now comes the plan to add work zone speed enforcement cameras on the roads. These would be cameras that would take pictures of the license plates of speeding cars and issue tickets according.
They could be set up in any work zone, as long as there is signage that warns the drivers they are there and active.
“The program is intended to be a tool to enhance and compliment existing state enforcement efforts and to change driver behavior, reduce overall speed and increase safety for our highway workers and driving public,” the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Travis Snell told the Senate Transportation Committee this week.
There were 28 people killed in work zones on Washington’s roads between 2019 and 2022.
“We control everything we possibly can, but what we can’t control is the traveling public,” Atkinson Construction President Brandon Dully testified in supporting the bill. “Each year, we have near misses, equipment damage, and direct hits.”
Mark Ottele testified that he has seen way too many near misses and accidents while working for Granite Construction.
“I’ve personally seen semi trucks plow into our crews,” he said. “I’ve seen bodies scraped-off the ground. I’ve seen the jaws of life opening up cars.”
Ottele told senators that his office is a very dangerous place to work.
“It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach not knowing if I’m going to come home every day to my family and my 10-year-old son and my 14-year-old daughter,” Ottele said.
This bill has bipartisan support, and only one person testified against it, and that was on technical grounds.
“This is a big deal,” Republican Senator Curtis King said. “We need to pass this bill.”
