Bluff City OKs U.S. 11E Speed Cameras
The Associated Press
Speed monitoring traffic camera, George Washington Parkway, Arlington, Virginia.
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – If you’re one of those drivers who likes speeding down U.S. 11E, get ready to smile for the camera.
In a 4-1 vote Thursday, Bluff City’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an ordinance allowing the city to install traffic enforcement cameras on its roads and use them to issue civil citations for traffic violations.
Alderman Melvin Carrier voted against the ordinance.
“I know what the people of Bluff City want, and I know what they don’t want,” Carrier said. “They don’t want the cameras.”
Mayor Todd Malone said the city will use the new ordinance, which is effective immediately, to install traffic cameras on U.S. 11E. Drivers caught speeding by the cameras will have to pay a $50 civil fine and $45 in court costs, according to the ordinance.
“The intent [behind these cameras] is not revenue,” Malone said at Thursday’s meeting. “The intent is to change people’s driving habits on U.S. 11E.”
When the board started talking about the cameras in December, Police Chief David Nelson said his officers used a portable trailer to monitor how fast drivers were traveling on the city’s 3.8-mile-long section of U.S. 11E.
More than half of the vehicles, 53 percent, were doing more than 5 miles per hour above the speed limit, Nelson said in December, adding that about 36,000 vehicles travel that 3.6-mile-stretch of highway each day.
Thursday’s vote is the most recent in a series of steps the board has taken to get the speeding cameras installed.
Now, board members must formally award a contract to a traffic camera operator before they can start using the devices on the city’s highways.
They have solicited bids from a few companies, including American Traffic Systems, an Arizona-based supplier of the cameras.
But not everyone is thrilled with the idea of installing traffic cameras. At Thursday’s meeting, Robert Miller grilled board members on their motives for installing the cameras and said he doubted it was for safety alone.
“Is the city of Bluff City turning to these speed cameras because of the downturn in the economy?” asked Miller, who is one of five people seeking a spot on the board in the May 19 election.
Miller also questioned whether the city would have to pay some of the costs associated with the cameras if they didn’t produce a certain amount of revenue.
Malone answered by saying there were no minimum amounts in a draft contract that American Traffic Systems presented to the city as part of its bid.
If it moves forward with the plan, Bluff City would become the second locality in the Tri-Cities to use speed cameras to handle traffic enforcement.
Mount Carmel, Tenn., started using speed cameras along a 2-mile-long stretch of U.S. 11W on April 1, 2008, said Jeff Jackson, the city’s police chief.
Between April 1 and Dec. 31, Jackson said, those cameras issued 3,949 citations for speeding and brought in $101,401 in fines and court costs.
“Our major purpose in this whole thing was to slow people down,” Jackson said, adding there are six stop-sign intersections along that stretch of U.S. 11W that were plagued with accidents before the city started using the cameras.
Most of the wrecks were caused when a vehicle failed to come to a complete stop and fully yield the right-of-way at one of the stop signs, Jackson said.
But the speeds drivers did as they went down the main highway only made the accidents worse, he said, adding the city had three traffic fatalities in 2008.
Mount Carmel installed the cameras in March 2008 and started using them in April 2008. Almost instantly, Jackson got the results he wanted.
Mount Carmel’s total number of accidents dropped from 95 in 2007 to 61 in 2008, while those with injuries dropped from 26 in 2007 to 17 in 2008.
“It was a very successful year,” Jackson said. “I’m not sure I’ve heard of a city that hasn’t had a reduction in accidents because of [the speed cameras.]”
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Reader Reactions
When I was Mayor of Bluff City, I thought speed cameras would be the best way to control speeders in Piney Flats. I suggested this idea and the board wouldn’t hear of it. This board has made a good decision and I hope cameras are installed along this section of highway.
MY MY Uniden and Jed where do you get your info at? I was disturbed about these allegations so I checked them out for myself. I called Chief Nelson and asked him about the cameras and he advised that they had been but out for a bid and 2 companies had replied and now it would be up to the board to decide who they want. He gave me the names of the companies and I called them and they advised they had not received any info who won the bid. I ask the question of who would install the cameras and they both advised that they had their own engineers who done them. As I talked to Chief Nelson I asked him if he had seen the comments on tri cities news and he advised no and I told him about the officer and the flashlight and he was surprised and advised he would look into this. Uniden and Jed I respect your position on the cameras and wonder if the cameras will work, but if it will save lives than I say lets go for it. What does Todd Malone’s Chapter 7 have to do with this it sounds like your issue is not the cameras but with Mayor Malone, are you running for office?
Apparently most of you do not understand that this issue goes beyond the cameras. Most do not care that the cameras violate your constitutional rights. Most of you remind me of sheep!
Perhaps the speed cameras will influence these speeders to slow down. I almost got hit in the rear a few days ago by some guy driving an old grey van.
Maybe the speed cameras will slow some of these careless drivers down. Go for it Bluff City.
What difference does it make if Bluff City installs cameras. Drive the speed limit and we will have no problems.
Perhaps the Bluff City Police officer I observed smacking a convenience store clerk on the butt with his flashlight Saturday night could have been out stopping all those speeders you all say are out there. Chief Nelson is only concerned with his next nicotine fix! Does anyone remember when Bluff City only had one officer? Things ran smooth then. After reading the comments on this post, it is easy for me to see why this country is heading toward socialism. Some people cannot handle freedom.
Speed cameras are for safety, not to generate revenue; what a laugh. Why does the speed limit on the Elizabethton Hwy drop from 55mph to 45mph at the Bluff City city limits and there is no major retail establishments in the area but there is always speed traps set up. The speed shouldn’t drop to 45mph until near the 11W intersection if safety and not revenue is the main concern. There are many 2 lane roads in the county that have speed limits of 55mph.
Speed cameras aren’t about revenue…I like the fairy tale about the “Three Bears” better.
Now that Mayor Malone is out of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, his new company PS Kustoms can sell the cameras to Bluff City and install them to recoup his losses. Check out what his job is besides our Mayor at PSKustoms.com This is why Bluff City needs cameras to catch speeders. Actual officers don’t put money in the Board’s pocket.
Again, does it take a camera to enforce speed? Officers running radar at random locations along 11-E would be much more effective. You people realize that a camera is placed at a fixed location don’t you? Calibration of the radar with these cameras is totally up to the company that owns them. A radar operated by an officer has to be calibrated by an independent company that does not profit from the accuracy of the equipment. It seems that most of the post in favor of the cameras are based on politics, not the legality of the cameras. I sure hope a class action lawsuit brings Bluff City and its “leaders” back to the real world.
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