Automated Traffic Monitoring Systems

Despite a recent and detailed ACLU report documenting that “red light cameras” appear to have had no positive impact on driver safety and have cost the City of Providence close to a million dollars, the legislature authorized their permanent use, repealing a sunset clause on the technology’s utilization. In a similar vein, a new law was enacted allowing the installation of traffic cameras on school buses; the technology purports to record vehicles that go past stopped school buses, allowing for the issuance of citations for these traffic violations. The ACLU had raised various privacy and due process concerns about both types of camera systems.