Support of S.2553 An Act Relative to Automated Enforcement

Support of S.2553 An Act Relative to Automated Enforcement

March 10, 2020
24 Beacon Street, Room 319
Massachusetts State House
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Senator Brownsberger,

We are writing in strong support of S.2553, An Act relative to automated enforcement. As a coalition of advocacy organizations devoted to creating safer roadways, we appreciate your efforts to move forward a bill to introduce Automated Enforcement in Massachusetts. We believe this bill will have enormous safety benefits to the residents of the Commonwealth.

Automated enforcement is one of the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition’s top legislative priorities. Speed, school bus and red light cameras have been proven to reduce speeding and unsafe driving, prevent crashes, and reduce repeat offenders — an encouraging sign of behavior change. In one study in Maryland, speeding by 10+ mph or more fell by 70% in places with new automated enforcement measures. Nationally, 400 cities and towns have installed red light cameras, and 130 have speed cameras.

We see this legislation as an important tool to reduce speeding and unsafe driving in a way that requires no direct interaction with police officers, and that includes privacy safeguards (i.e., cameras capture only license plates, not faces; data is deleted after 48 hours after final disposition of a violation).

Sincerely,
Stacey Beuttell
Executive Director, WalkBoston

Galen Mook
Executive Director, MassBike

Eliza Parad
Interim Executive Director, Boston Cyclists Union

Emily Stein
President, Safe Roads Alliance

Stacy Thompson
Executive Director, LivableStreets Alliance

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