The city of Marion in eastern Iowa will start issuing tickets today for traffic camera violations. Marion officer Tom Daubs tells KCRG TV that during their trial period the two camera locations combined saw almost 1,500 red light violations and more than 150 speeding violations.
“For these numbers, we were surprised that there were that many in such a short amount of time when it’s clearly posted there’s a camera ahead,” Daubs says. The cameras are at the intersections of Highway 100 and East Post Road and Highway 13 and 151. Tickets will now go out for drivers caught at 11 miles an hour over the posted speed limit.
“The owner of the vehicle, not necessarily the driver, but the person that the car is coming back to. They’re going to get a notice in the mail saying that there was a violation saying they owe a certain dollar amount by a certain day,” Daubs says. He says the goal of having the cameras is to slow drivers down so that if an accident were to occur, it would be likely to be less severe. And to prevent people from running red lights — which was the cause of a fatal accident at the East Post, Highway 100 intersection in January.
The city will also be using a mobile traffic enforcement camera that will be set up in areas that see speeding concerns. “It’d be great if all said well nobody’s run the red lights and we’ve done our job and people are aware of it and they’re being safe and responsible on the roads — that’s the ultimate goal because there are going to be crashes we just want to make sure they’re the least impactful,” he says.
Daubs encourages motorists to slow down and enjoy the commute instead of trying to race everywhere.