Local

Filed Florida bill to ban red light cameras statewide could affect local area

Florida lawmakers will take up a bill this year that would end red light programs statewide.
As of December, 49 municipalities still had active red light camera programs, including Orange Park and Green Cove Springs in Clay County.
In a yearlong period during 2017 and 2018, the city of Green Cove Springs issued more than 11,000 citations from its five cameras at three intersections.
During that same period, Orange Park issued a similar number, from its eight cameras at three intersections.
“That seems excessive, that seems a bit of a revenue grab,” said Joyce Powell, who was herself once cited.
A judge upheld the legality of the cameras last year, but many cities, like Jacksonville, have chosen to get rid of them.
A similar proposal to ban the cameras was approved overwhelmingly by the House last year but failed to move forward in the Senate.