SPEED CAMERAS: Legislation to bring speed-detecting cameras for school, safety & construction zones in Mass. passes major hurdle

Mass. Senate includes provisions for communities to use speed cameras in major, $575M economic development bill

By Steve Freker

Speed-detecting cameras could become a reality in the Commonwealth of Mass. after the state Senate approved the inclusion of a provision to allow the use of these devices by local communities. Last Thursday Mass. state senators added to a $575 million economic development bill a provision that would permit automated cameras in school zones and other designated “safety zones,” as well as near active highway construction sites, across the state. Drivers found on camera going 11 miles per hour over the posted limit would face fines between $25 and $100.

“Designated safety zones” are located near schools, playgrounds, parks, daycare centers and senior housing. Speed limits are usually lowered to 20 mph to protect people on foot or bicycles.

Judging by the climate of transportation safety discussions in the communities in this region, they could very well be coming here to the Advocate readership cities and towns of Everett, Malden, Revere and Saugus. In all of these communities, advocates, elected officials and many citizens have made transportation and transit safety a focal point in setting priorities for ways to improve and preserve the well-being and quality of life for residents.

The $575 million economic development bill — where the speed camera language is inserted — still would have to be approved with a formal vote by the Mass. Senate, then would have to pass the Mass. House, as well as being signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey, before it would take effect.

The recent deaths of two bicyclists in Massachusetts, both following collisions with trucks this month of July, have kept transportation and transit safety in the forefront. Denise Olsen, 74, was killed while bicycling in Westport, Mass., on July 13 after being struck by a dump truck. In another high-profile incident, Louisa Gag, 36, a well-known greater Boston area bicycling activist who worked as a transportation planner for the City of Boston, was struck by a truck and killed on Tremont Street in Mission Hill on July 9. Gag’s death especially shocked the transit safety/bicycling community. At the start of the recent 5th Middlesex District state Senate candidates forum on transportation issues, moderator Noah Tuke asked for a moment of silence from the audience to recognize both of these women whose lives were tragically lost this month.

The legislation at the state level would involve speed cameras in specific safety zones and did not include cameras at traffic lights or regular “straightaway” streets and roads in communities.

To date, 26 states now use speed-detecting cameras, mixed between those in safety and school zones, as well as “Red light” cameras at traffic lights that detect both speed and if vehicles do not honor the red lights stoppage signal. The states of Georgia, Maryland and Virginia have the most communities involved, with over 50 in each state. In other states they are used in far fewer cities. In California, for instance, one of the country’s biggest states, they are only in Oakland and San Francisco.