By Tanya De Jesus
tdejesus@kcautv.com
Traffic cameras. It's like big brother is always watching and now some people are using Facebook to try to put the breaks on the cameras.
You've definitely seen them and you might have gotten one of those dreaded tickets in the mail for speeding through one of them. They're red light and speed cameras. And while you might be guilty of violating the traffic laws they enforce, some folks say the cameras actually violate our constitutional rights.
Jeremy Ogle says, "It just takes away a lot of our rights. You're basically guilty before you're proven innocent so I mean, there's no yes I was speeding, or no I wasn't speeding. There's no scenario on why I may have been speeding. It's just automatically you're guilty."
That's why Ogle fully supports a Facebook group called "Speed Cam Ban Phone Bomb." It's encouraging people to call state legislators in the Iowa House Transportation Committee and ask them to support a ban on traffic cameras across the state.
"If they are for it then lets go and help them spread the word and if they're against it lets go ahead and find out why," said Ogle.
District 2 Representative and transportation committee member Chris Hall supports banning the cameras.
Hall says, "I think originally the cameras were proposed for the measure of public safety but in many cases and probably in Sioux City's case, the fines are too steep and the purpose is not what is originally intended."
The committee will review the issue on Thursday to decide if a bill will be introduced to the full state house of representatives to ban the traffic cameras.
