Senator Seeks House Vote On Red-Light Cameras

Moves Would Add Program to Bills

Action by Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle could threaten a key piece of the House's transportation package. (By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)

RICHMOND, Feb. 20 -- A Republican state senator vowed Monday to force a vote in the House of Delegates on reviving the use of traffic surveillance cameras at intersections in some Virginia communities.

Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) pledged to rework up to five House bills to include the program, which ended last year when the General Assembly refused to extend it.

The maneuvers would probably require House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) to allow the 100 delegates to vote on the cameras or kill each of the bills, including a signature piece of the House's transportation funding package.

The cameras have been the subject of a long feud between Virginia senators who believe they make intersections safer and delegates who contend they represent intrusive government "nannyism."

Last year, the House ended a 10-year experiment with the cameras in selected communities, including several in Northern Virginia. The devices took pictures of vehicles that ran red lights and used license plate numbers to mail tickets.

Since then, numerous bills to revive the program have died in the House's Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee.

Convinced that the idea deserves a hearing before the full House, Stolle said he will move to insert the program into several bills on similar topics that have received House approval.

One such bill, he said, is the House's proposal to impose higher fines on reckless drivers. The measure accounts for nearly $600 million of the $2 billion House Republicans have pledged to transportation over the next four years.

To carry out his plan, Stolle must make motions in committees to amend bills that have come over from the House for review. Those motions would need to be passed in the Senate committees, and the bills would then have to be approved on the Senate floor.

He started Monday, successfully adding the camera program to a bill sponsored by Del. A. Donald McEachin (D-Richmond). As originally written, the bill would allow a police officer who observes a red-light runner to radio a second officer, who could then issue a ticket. State law says an officer issuing a ticket must personally observe the violation.

"That's right, you've been hijacked," Stolle said to McEachin after making the motion.

"Carjacked, I think it is," the delegate responded.