Bill to ban school zone speed cameras filed by Macon legislator

Macon-Bibb County has raked in millions of dollars from traffic citations issued by a private company that operates automated speed detection cameras outside of schools, but a bill introduced under the Gold Dome on Monday threatens that lucrative revenue-generator.

Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, said the bill he put forth to ban the speed cameras garnered 99 co-signers from both sides of the aisle.

“These cameras are not about school safety, they are about raking in large sums of money for local governments,” Washburn told The Melody. “As I studied and heard more about it from around the state, I decided something ought to be done about it.”

The bill would reverse a 2018 law that allows the automatic speed detection cameras to operate.

Bibb County installed its first traffic speed cameras in 2022. Since then, the county has expanded them to 20 school zones and — as of last September — raked in more than $5.7 million in revenue from citations.

Washburn said Altumint, the Maryland-based company with which the county contracts for the cameras, has made at least a million dollars from its contract with Macon-Bibb County.

“They are taking in vast sums of money and it’s wrong to prey on people like that,” Washburn said of companies with contracts for cameras across the state. “The truth is, these things, these kinds of systems are being operated inappropriately and dishonestly. They are designed to entrap and issue tickets to people who are being deceived in that process.”

People are not always aware of the cameras, Washburn said, and he’s heard of cases in which tickets are issued when school is not in session. Washburn said some of the cameras are placed on four-lane roads or main thoroughfares when the schools are on smaller, side roads. 

“They are using children’s safety to hide behind in order to do this,” he said. “I’ve had calls from all over the state, emails from all over the state, because this is abusive and it needs to stop.”

An Atlanta TV news station reported last year that it uncovered thousands of tickets issued in Jonesboro and Riverdale to drivers who should not have been cited due to a camera glitch. Jonesboro Police Department ultimately refunded more than $75,000 to drivers erroneously ticketed.

Washburn said he expects lobbyists representing the interests of camera companies “will put up a fight.”

“They’ve already tried to get me to back off, change the bill to fix problems,” he said. “Any bill to fix this that is drafted by the lobbyists is a bill that leaves the fox in the hen house.” 

Lobbyists have spent more than a half million on greasing the political wheels of local and state decision-makers since  2018 when the law allowing the cameras went into effect, according to an article published last month on The Georgia Virtue.

Campaign finance records show the camera company RedSpeed Georgia donated $500 to Washburn’s campaign in 2021.

Other local and state leaders also received political donations from automatic speed detection camera companies including:

• Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller received $1,000 in 2023 from Thomas Bouchard, vice president of Altumint. 
• Rep. Tangie Herring, D-Macon, received $1,800 from RedSpeed last year. 
• Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, received $1,000 from RedSpeed in 2021 and $1,000 in 2023. 

According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, state houses across the country are embracing, restricting or banning the controversial technology. A bill introduced last month in Connecticut proposes cutting state funding to municipalities using the cameras to draw in revenue. A bill introduced in Iowa directs municipalities to transfer the revenue to the state road department. A bill in Mississippi proposes prohibiting all automated speed cameras by October.