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House committee advances bill to allow photo‑radar in highway work zones
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Summary
The House Committee on Transportation advanced House Bill 4,081, which would authorize ODOT to run photo‑radar in state highway work zones, allow citations based on photographic evidence and remove the requirement that an officer be present. The committee adopted technical amendments and referred the bill to Ways and Means.
The House Committee on Transportation on Feb. 16 advanced House Bill 4,081, which directs the Oregon Department of Transportation to partner with the Oregon State Police to establish a highway worker photo‑radar program for state highway work zones.
Patrick, committee staff, told members the bill designates ODOT as the contracting authority, modifies where and when photo‑radar units may operate and removes the requirement that a marked officer be present when a device is used. "It specifies that citations may be issued to drivers exceeding the posted speed by 6 miles per hour or more," Patrick said in the committee overview.
The measure also clarifies post‑issuance procedural rules: a jurisdiction receiving a certificate of innocence that reasonably demonstrates the registered owner was not the driver must dismiss the citation without requiring the owner to appear in court; the bill limits reissuance of a citation to once and only after an OSP verification that the registered owner was the driver.
During debate a member raised privacy and cybersecurity concerns, saying the committee remained unsatisfied that photographic data and any systems that process or store it would be adequately protected. The committee also discussed whether the 6 mph threshold is a minimum the bill allows or a required enforcement standard; staff noted the bill permits enforcement at lower tolerances than some agencies currently use but does not mandate a specific tolerance above 6 mph.
The committee adopted the dash‑3 technical amendment and moved the bill as amended to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation and referral to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. One objection to the floor motion was recorded on the floor, but the motion carried.
