Are Red-light Cameras Viable in Omaha?
This is an introductory piece to an upcoming post titled “A Red Light for Red Light Cameras in Omaha.” Stay tuned for that upcoming post and email us at safeomahastreets@gmail.com to sign up for our newsletter where we highlight a new blog post in every issue!
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Have you ever wondered why there aren’t any red-light cameras (aka automated enforcement) in the City of Omaha?
Well up until last week, I incorrectly assumed that the reason for this was some type of insufficient progress on the part of the City of Omaha. I was wrong! It turns out, we’d need a change at the State level to even consider using red-light cameras as a tool of non-contact enforcement.
Read this passage from the city’s Law Department for a summary of the issue:
In 1998, the City of Omaha adopted an ordinance for the detection and enforcement of traffic signal violations - otherwise known as the "red light camera" program. Shortly, thereafter, Senator Ernie Chambers filed a lawsuit against the City of Omaha seeking to enjoin the ordinance and requesting a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was invalid and unconstitutional. The District Court considered the evidence and the law and struck down the ordinance. The Court determined that the City acted outside of its authority since there was no state statute that authorized the adoption of this type of traffic ordinance. The District Court also determined that specific provisions of the ordinance dealing with fines was unconstitutional. The City decided not to appeal. The City Law Department advised the Mayor and the City Council at that time that, in order to move forward, the legislature would have to authorize the City of Omaha to adopt this kind of ordinance. There have been a few efforts over the last 20 years to allow for automated traffic enforcement, but none have been adopted by the legislature.
I had no clue! But now we know.
A tenet of SOS is to educate the citizens of Omaha on all things street-safety, and eradicate any existing misconceptions.
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Cover image by Veron Wessels via Unsplash