Texas House passes bill to ban red light cameras
AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The Texas House voted 109-34 Wednesday evening to pass House Bill 1631, which would phase out and ban red light cameras across the state.
HB 1631, authored by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford), would prohibit the use of "photographic traffic signal enforcement systems."
The bill states that local authorities "may not issue a civil or criminal charge or citation for an offense or violation based on a recorded image produced by a photographic traffic signal enforcement system".
An approved amendment to HB 1631 by state Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco) states that any local authority with an existing contract with a red light camera vendor is allowed to continue to operate the cameras until the contract expires. However, this does not apply to contracts that authorize termination "on the basis of adverse state legislation."
The bill is now in the hands of the Senate.