Everyone in Cedar Rapids knows about the pesky traffic cameras that were causing such an uproar. With all of the back and forth between the city and the court system, now is a good time to clear the air and make sure we’re all on the same page.
Short answer:
The cameras on Interstate 380 are no longer issuing tickets.
What happened:
Back in May of 2017, Cedar Rapids officials appealed a judge’s ruling that required the city to turn off two of the traffic cameras along Interstate 380 as well as move two others. Iowa then became the second state to reject the requests to continuing issuing traffic tickets during an appeal of the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Iowa Justice Brent Appel denied a motion to temporarily suspend on April 25th and May 17th. It was after this that the District Court ruled in favor of the Iowa DOT, which said that they do have the authority to order the cameras turned off or moved.
Cedar Rapids is no longer using the cameras to issue tickets but instead uses them to collect traffic data. The city stopped issuing tickets generated after April 25th.
Why they were controversial:
While the cameras generated $4.4 million in revenue, the cameras were always a source of controversy. The main reason why people were frustrated with the cameras was because they were located too close to speed limit changes. Naturally, this was a bit deceitful for motorists who might be new to the area and aren’t accustomed to speed change locations, though they should be following speed limit signs regardless.
Due to the uncertainty about their legality, ticket fees ended up being reduced to the point where they weren’t very significant. There was also the matter of collection. Though the city issued 85,495 tickets, only 55 percent were actually paid for according to state figures.