James wants ban on traffic cameras

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill has been introduced in the Senate to prohibit police from using cameras to nab speeding motorists or those who run traffic lights.

Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, the prime sponsor, said today that Senate Bill 381 is to stop "the government from using cameras to watch what people are doing and make that a basis for issuing traffic citations.

"It tries to limit the power of government," James said.

The bill, he said, is the outgrowth of a test project in Southern Nevada to post cameras to record those who go through traffic lights.

"When you get to a point where you're having surveillance equipment to watch your citizens to make sure they are complying with the law, you're making an unnecessary step towards an Orwellian Society," James said.

Electronic cameras have been used in other cities, positioned, for example, above a freeway to take pictures of cars that violate the speed limit. The cars licenses are photographed and the registered owners get tickets in the mail with pictures of their license plates.

"You (the motorists) are never stopped. You get a ticket in the mail with a picture on it, and you have got to pay it or appear," James said. "I just don't think this is the solution."