Enforcing Cams and Radar on I-10 – How’s Louisiana Handling That?

Anyone who drives on Interstate 10 across southern Louisiana has an Atchafalaya Basin Bridge story. The iconic 18-mile-long bridge has spawned many an interesting narrative from accidents, explosions, and fugitives, and there was a guy who went swimming during a traffic jam one time too. Y'all remember that?

Chances are if you drive between Lafayette and Baton Rouge you are painfully aware of the changes that Louisiana's Department of Transportation is making to the bridge. They are currently in the process of installing new speed limit signs for the roadway. They are also preparing for the installation of speed cameras and radar detection devices.

LaDOTD has suggested that speed is the major contributing factor to most of the incidents that happen on "the basin bridge". And when those incidents and crashes do happen traffic on this major transportation artery grinds to a halt. Sometimes, that "halt" can be for hours.

Still, many Louisiana drivers have voiced opposition to the "eye in the sky" or "big brother is watching" approach to traffic safety. One of the most frequently asked questions that we hear is this one.

How Will They Enforce Speeding Tickets From I-10 Remote Cameras?

That is such a good question that the Louisiana legislature is still attempting to figure it out. The House Transportation Committee has passed legislation that would make it a requirement that for a motorist to be ticketed by the "automation" two pictures would be required as proof.

One of those pictures would be of the offending vehicle's license plate. The other picture would be of the driver of that vehicle. That means the "automation" would have to snap a picture from the front and from the rear. The picture from the front would capture the image of the driver. The rear photo would capture an image of the license plate.

Or, Louisiana could adopt the two-plate system that many other states use. That system requires that a license plate be displayed on both the front and rear of the vehicle. This would make accomplishing the "burden of proof" a lot easier in this case. I don't see the legislature nor the general public going for the "two plates". Especially if it means making it easier to get a ticket.

Just for clarity this legislation has not been vetted and debated by the full house. It will go before members of the House in the coming days and should it pass it would then be forwarded on to the Senate for further debate and discussion.