Skip to main content

Iowa DOT approves new traffic camera rules

Iowa DOT’s Transportation Commission has unanimously approved proposed rules for red light and speed cameras that require cities to prove the devices are needed to improve safety on highways. The rules require a city to perform an engineering analysis of the highway and also present some alternatives to the cameras to address any safety issues. Cities that currently have cameras installed would have to do the engineering study by May 2014. The rules must still go through the legislative approval process
December 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Iowa DOT’s Transportation Commission has unanimously approved proposed rules for red light and speed cameras that require cities to prove the devices are needed to improve safety on highways.

The rules require a city to perform an engineering analysis of the highway and also present some alternatives to the cameras to address any safety issues. Cities that currently have cameras installed would have to do the engineering study by May 2014. The rules must still go through the legislative approval process before being enacted.

Iowa is the only state in the US that allows cameras to be permanently installed along interstate roads or highways managed by the state. However, the state has no laws governing their use, leaving the decision to county supervisors and city councils to decide whether to install them.

Nine Iowa cities as well as Polk County use a mix of fixed and mobile cameras on state-run roads or interstate highways.

Related Content

  • Automating seat belt compliance a priority for road safety
    February 2, 2012
    Finland's VTT is developing a mobile, automated seatbelt compliance system. Here, the organisation's Matti Kutila discusses progress
  • Turnkey projects deliver enforcement for developing countries
    January 25, 2012
    Jenoptik Robot’s Ralf Schmitz talks about enforcement deployments in developing countries, and how those with long-established histories still have much to learn. In the enforcement sector, the concept of technology provider also being responsible for operations is hardly a new one. Nevertheless, it has gained significant traction over the last five or six years and has the potential to radically change the complexion of the industry according to Jenoptik Robot’s Director, Sales Ralf Schmitz.
  • Congestion charge: Big Changes in the Big Apple
    July 11, 2023
    New York City is falling in line with other major global cities in charging drivers for using its streets, writes Adam Hill: the Central Business District Tolling Program is on its way. Probably
  • Driverless vehicles just around the corner?
    February 28, 2013
    umors that self-driving taxis are about to hit the streets of Las Vegas have turned out to be untrue… but the age of the driverless vehicle is only just around the corner, as Pete Goldin finds out. From Herbie the Love Bug to Knight Rider to the cast of the Pixar film Cars, the autono­mous auto has long been a beloved icon in the entertainment industry. But how close is the fiction to fact? The general public might be surprised to find out just how soon autonomous vehicles could be driving on our roadways.