Pedestrian Safety Act (H 8012, S 2751)

We opposed this bill which authorize cities and towns to use automated road safety monitoring systems to enforce stop sign, crosswalk, and pedestrian right-of-way violations in designated safety zones. In opposing this legislation, we noted that a key purpose of traffic enforcement is the realtime correction of unsafe driving as it occurs. By this system, mailing a ticket days or weeks after the violation occurs does nothing to prevent harm in the moment. Additionally, the use of cameras in these contexts negate the opportunity for an officer to make a judgement call and exercise discretion as to the driver's actions.

As a society, we are becoming much too inured to an environment where we are constantly being monitored. Rhode Island has speed cameras, red light cameras, and automated license plate readers monitoring and following us. Each past use becomes a justification for expanding surveillance in other contexts and for other purposes.