InTrans / Jun 02, 2011
InTrans Research Affects Proposed Iowa Legislation
A bill to prohibit the use of cameras to enforce red-light violations at traffic signals was discussed in February 2011 in the Iowa Senate Transportation subcommittee. A recent evaluation of such enforcement, led by Shauna Hallmark, director of the Midwest Transportation Consortium at InTrans, and associate professor of civil and construction engineering, was cited as one reason for not advancing the bill.
Hallmark’s report documents that appropriate application of red-light violation enforcement cameras can save lives. Her findings have received extensive media coverage, including a piece on Iowa Public Radio at the time of the subcommittee’s decision, and have been used by transportation and law enforcement agencies in the United States and internationally. She has ongoing efforts to update her study.