One of the very first things I noticed when I moved to Iowa was the crazy number of traffic cameras. I use a GPS that gives me a bit of a heads up when I'm nearing one. The moment I crossed through into the Hawkeye state my GPS kept going off with, "TRAFFIC CAMERA AHEAD."

That annoying yet helpful alert may be a distant memory soon...at least in Iowa.

There is currently another episode in the long and convoluted drama of banning traffic cameras in Iowa. One Republican Senator has been behind this push to get rid of these cameras. Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale is continuing this decade long attempt to outlaw cameras for speeding and red lights.

Senator Zaun claims he is not pushing for people to break traffic laws, but rather,

"Unfortunately, I think these cities and towns and counties have I think really taken advantage of a situation and they’ve become more about revenue than actual safety.”

His Democratic colleagues argue that these fines collected from traffic camera violations are required by law in order to pay law enforcement. As it currently stands, there are no financials in the bill to supplement this lost revenue stream.

After doing some quick research there are records of about 9 communities and cities in the state of Iowa that have ATE cameras. There are about 72 cameras in operation in the state, as of 2018. Iowa is one of 19 states in the country that have active red light and speed cameras.

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