Texas will soon become the 11th state in the country to ban red light cameras. The state Senate has already approved the House Bill 1631 by a 23 to 8 vote last week. Only the Governor Greg Abbott is now required to give his assent to the bill before it can formally become the law of the land. His assent is essentially a done deal since the governor had campaigned on the issue last year.
What red light cameras do is that they automatically capture a picture when a driver blows through a traffic stop. They’re then sent a citation in the mail which costs offenders $75. According to reports, these cameras earned the city of Dallas about $5.8 million just last year.
Abbott had campaigned against red light cameras when he was up for re-election in November last year. He cited studies which suggested that these cameras can increase the risk of accidents where they’re deployed and that there are also “constitutional issues” related to their use.
24 states currently have red light cameras deployed within their borders but 10 of those states have already banned their use. Texas will become the 11th state to do that once the bill is signed into law by the governor.
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