![]() While the crash data for the crossings does not show a trend toward fewer wrecks, it also does not demonstrate critics’ claims of increased rear-end crashes. Annual totals varied from 27 in 2011 - two years after Humble installed cameras - to 75 in 2016, down to 29 last year when COVID-19 curtailed car trips. Of the 3,956 crashes at intersections in the city from 2011 to 2020, 386 happened at locations with red light cameras. During the decade, however, traffic volumes and miles traveled in Humble have grown as the population increased, meaning the number of crashes is staying constant while congestion has grown, albeit slightly, based on regional traffic counts.Ĭrash counts are also erratic at camera locations. The city has about 400 intersection-related crashes annually, based on 2011-20 data maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Though they were billed as a safety benefit, the cameras’ effectiveness at curbing crashes in Humble is unclear. City Manager Jason Stuebe said the city’s contract, which runs through 2024, remains in force. So any attempt to void the contracts is likely to lead straight to a courtroom.Ĭameras remain unpopular in Humble but very active. ![]() SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Bandit signs already are illegal. Section 16 of the Texas Constitution states “no bill of attainder, ex post facto law, retroactive law, or any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be made.” Getting rid of them, however, is not a slam dunk with Cortez’s bill, because lawmakers cannot simply void contracts they do not like. Leon Valley leadership, those unrelated to the earlier contract, came to support Cortez, noting in a survey 80 percent of the city’s residents want the cameras gone. His House Bill 1209 was heard Tuesday by the House Transportation Committee. Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, said.Ĭortez now wants lawmakers to close the door, declaring all four contracts null and void. ![]() “That was not the intent of what we passed,” state Rep. Also gone are the city manager and the police chief. Council members who were instrumental in that extension have since been voted out or recalled. Sensing the cameras were soon to come under threat, Leon Valley, near San Antonio, took the extraordinary step in 2019 of extending its contract for 20 years. Four cities - Humble, Amarillo, Leon Valley and Balcones Heights - fit the bill and continue churning out violations. The 2019 ban allowed for any city that had a contract with a photo enforcement company that did not include termination language related to statewide bans to keep them. Except for people in four cities, it turned out.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |