Smile, New Hampshire drivers — you could soon be on a red light camera.
That’s the goal of Keene Democrat Rep. Philip Jones, who has proposed ending the state’s current ban on traffic enforcement cameras—his HB305, co-sponsored by Reps. Marc Plamondon (D-Nashua) and Terri O’Rorke (D-Keene) would allow municipalities to use remote, unmanned cameras for law enforcement.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has proposed a budget that includes allowing traffic enforcement cameras at the state and local levels.
New Hampshire is currently one of just six states that ban both red light cameras and speed cameras, along with Maine, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.
However, Jones’ bill would prohibit Granite State communities from doing what most states do and rely on third-party vendors to operate the cameras and collect the data. Cities and towns would have to operate the system themselves.
“We don’t want that in New Hampshire. The municipalities would have full control of the data — no spreading of the information among private companies,” Jones told the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
“I think it’s very simple: It’s something to help our municipal police departments.”
New Hampshire House Republicans are adamant they are not going to go down that road.
“New Hampshire House Democrats are pushing legislation to install red light cameras, speed trap cameras, and traffic cameras all around the Granite State,” the House GOP caucus posted on Twitter/X. “Democrats are desperate for any form of revenue that they can squeeze out of you, whether it be taxes or traffic tickets.”
How much money? In Illinois, local governments have collected $500 million from drivers via red-light camera fines since 2019.
Several members of the Transportation Committee expressed their concerns about personal privacy issues, in particular the fact that cameras would capture images of the drivers, not just the vehicles.
Bill Lambert, State Highway Safety Administrator for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, appeared at Tuesday’s hearing, though the department is not taking a position on the bill.
“The speed feedback sign, ‘your speed is,’ we allow those on state highways,” he noted. And he pointed out that while the state’s toll system also uses cameras for enforcement, the toll cameras specifically do not capture the image of the driver, just the license plate. “The toll evasion cameras are strictly regulated by state law that we are only allowed to capture the plate. We don’t identify who the driver is.”
The ACLU has traditionally opposed these cameras based on civil liberties concerns, but in Connecticut last year, they softened their stance and dropped their opposition.
But in 2019, the New Hampshire ACLU sued the city of Manchester over plans to install surveillance cameras downtown. The cameras would have violated state law, they argued. A judge ruled against them and allowed the cameras.
Rep. Joseph Hamblen (R-Madison) sits on the Transportation Committee, and he asked Jones about people who are driving rental cars or company cars when they are caught by the cameras.
“It would be hard to enforce,” Jones acknowledged. “This isn’t a catch-all for every problem. It’s just here to help the police, especially when you’ve got local people who are consistent violators. That’s who the police want to go after, not visitors who come through in a rental car.”
But, Jones admitted, part of that strategy involves taking a picture of the person behind the wheel.
“The camera should catch, not just the car and license plate, but the driver’s image as well.”