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Committee re-refers bill requiring daily testing and reporting of vendor-run speed cameras to courts
Summary
Senate Bill 1209 would require vendor-operated speed cameras to be tested daily, maintain records and direct some fines to the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program; the committee voted to report and re-refer the substitute to the Courts Committee.
Senate Bill 1209, a substitute seeking to add accountability measures for vendor-run automated speed enforcement, was adopted in committee and re-referred to the Courts Committee for further review. The substitute would require daily testing of camera devices, maintenance of testing records, and annual reports; it would also direct civil penalties from officer-issued summonses into the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program (VHSIP).
Senator Obuchaine (patron) and witnesses described a local example in Harrisonburg where one road-mounted enforcement device produced roughly $4 million in citations over roughly a year. Testimony from Rockingham County Sheriff Brian Hutchison and Virginia State Police Major Ron Maxey focused on differences between police radar procedures and vendor-operated devices; Major Maxey said law-enforcement radar is calibrated and tested daily as part of court-admissibility requirements.
Committee members raised legal and court-procedure questions and asked for additional review; the committee voted to report and re-refer the substitute to the Courts Committee (ayes 13, no 0, 1 abstention).
