MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Drivers who violate Vermont traffic laws could be caught on camera and ticketed without ever seeing a police officer unless lawmakers hit the brakes on a bill in the Statehouse.
If S.184 is passed, automated cameras would take photos of scofflaws’ license plates and send them tickets in the mail.
The bill is aimed at increasing safety on the roads from residential areas to work zones across Vermont.
“As we’re talking about the safety of children and folks living in cities urban areas, working in work zones. This is you know, this is what we do in the Legislature, right, is we’re constantly looking at both sides of the coin, trying to protect folks while also trying to adhere to privacy and safety of Vermonters,” said Sen. Martine Gulick, D-Chittenden County.
Gulick says her bill would give municipalities the option to institute a system used in many states and nearly 200 municipalities across the country.
The proposed automated traffic law enforcement system would take a photo of an offender’s license plate if a driver committed a traffic violation like speeding through a work zone or running a red light. Tickets would be sent to the address connected to the plate.
Questions have already been raised about the idea.
“We want people to have confidence in their government. And if they’re receiving violations that they did not commit or that are assigned to someone who was operating their vehicle that they were not aware of, then we started to create a belief that this is just a revenue generation system and not targeting what we’re really looking for,” Windham County Sheriff Mark Anderson said.
Vermont Racial Equity Director Xusana Davis weighed in on protecting drivers’ data and privacy, and ensuring the system does not overpolice communities of color.
“Do we do that in some areas of the state and not in others? And if not, why not? So the first thing I would do is just ask us to consider site selection and whether we’re creating a disproportionate impact by increasing law enforcement presence, even if it’s a digital presence,” Davis said.
Drivers we spoke with had mixed opinions.
“There’s a whole bunch of different things that get kind of confused when you have an automated camera taking pictures of cars that pass by that may or may not be speeding,” said Mark Bohan of South Burlington.
“It seems like if it is really going to improve safety, then I’d be for them. It would be a reasonable thing to pursue,” said Dave Reisman of Richmond.
It’s not clear how far this proposal will go. We know that Vermont police largely stopped using license plate monitoring in 2019 after pushback over privacy.