As Connecticut municipalities look for ways to promote safe driving, some are turning to speed cameras. Though, some advocacy groups have privacy concerns.
WSHU’s Ebong Udoma spoke with CT Mirror’s Emilia Otte to discuss her article, “As CT speed cameras bring in millions and more towns sign up, concerns linger,” as part of the collaborative podcast Long Story Short. Read Emilia’s story here.
WSHU: Hello Emilia.Last July, Middletown, Connecticut became one of the first towns in the state to install speed cameras at some strategic locations.It raked in about $1.8 million in fines in six months. Is that what prompted you to do a deep dive into this?
EO: Yes, it was. I pass that speed camera on Route 66 on a regular basis, and slow down on my way.
WSHU: So basically, could you just tell us how the speed camera works?
EO: Essentially, towns request to place them in certain strategic locations where people tend to speed, and the cameras capture instances of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or running red lights. A citation is then mailed to the vehicle’s owner, and they have the option to contest the citation or pay the fine.
WSHU: Yes, as a notable example, in the situation with Middletown, it was $1.8 million collected, but they charged $2.8 million and this was just in six months.
EO: Yes, that’s true. There’s a delay between issuing citations and collecting the fines.
WSHU: Okay, now you say that other towns are now looking into this. Initially, some people, especially the ACLU, expressed
