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Assemblymember David Chiu takes second shot at pace digital camera invoice – The San Francisco Examiner

If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

This is the approach Congregation member David Chiu is taking to end road deaths and injuries.

Along with a chorus of city council members, heads of transportation agencies, lawyers and mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, Chiu passed legislation on Tuesday to control the use of automated cameras to capture license plates from high-speed vehicles in high-speed vehicles. Communities at risk to curb reckless driving and save lives.

“At some point we have to say that enough is enough because these deaths are completely and completely preventable,” Chiu said.

If passed, Caltrans would need to work with stakeholders to set guidelines for the speed safety program, such as: For example, how many miles per hour a vehicle would have to drive above the specified speed limit in order to trigger the radar of the speed cameras on dangerous roads and work areas.

Assembly Bill 550 is Chiu’s second attempt to codify an automated speed enforcement pilot program to slow cars down and reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths from traffic violence.

He tried for the first time in 2017, but the bill was ultimately shot down due to objections from civil rights and justice attorneys and law enforcement, among other things.

But Chiu said it was different this time: Thousands of Californians continued to be killed in traffic accidents; Science has advocated speed cameras to “stop these pointless deaths”. and a national conversation has emerged about race and law enforcement, including the disproportionate burden people of color carry during interactions such as traffic stops.

Tuesday’s legislation includes tough privacy restrictions, including a ban on facial recognition technology, equity parameters, and a mandate that the program be monitored by local transportation agencies rather than law enforcement agencies.

Violators would be punished with a civil quote capped at a fine of $ 125, with alternative diversion programs available to replace full payment. It wouldn’t add a point to a driver’s license either.

San Francisco supervisor Aaron Peskin called the nuances of the bill “the right formula” to balance the needs of everyone involved and said he plans to table a resolution in support of the entire board of directors as well as the county transportation authority.

“Let’s do that,” he said.

Around 30 people are killed and another 500 seriously injured on the streets of San Francisco each year. That staggering number has continued as The City nears the Vision Zero 2024 deadline.

Speed ​​is generally considered to be the determining factor in whether a person will live or die as a result of a vehicle collision.

As officials commonly quote, a person hit by a car traveling 20 mph has a 90 percent chance of survival, while someone hit by a vehicle moving 40 mph has only a 20 percent chance of survival Has.

“One thing we do know is speedkills,” said Chiu.

However, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Department and other local transportation authorities still lack the power to make the kind of transformative changes that could really slow vehicles down, most notably the power to use automatic speed monitoring to deter dangerous driver speeds.

“We need every tool we can to make this happen, and there is one thing we are missing at the moment,” said Mayor of London Breed. “The fact that we don’t have automatic speed controls is a problem that keeps us from saving lives.”

Officials stressed that the cameras themselves are mobile and will only be placed in the corridors of the community after rigorous data analysis on the frequency of high speeds and a robust neighborhood engagement process in cities that have opted for the speed safety program.

Bay Area NewsPoliticssan Francisco Newstransportation

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