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

  • WIM industry ponders certification challenge
    April 29, 2019
    It’s hard to pin down the world of Weigh in Motion. Adam Hill asks five of the sector’s leading players about current developments – and whether problems with certification will ever be solved
  • Road safety systems implementation needs legislation
    February 27, 2012
    A few years back, as part of ongoing efforts to better myself, I took to reading the literary classics. I
  • Kria
    March 16, 2012
    Applications in the field of enforcement are a mix of road safety technology, law and social impacts. Best practice is not necessarily defined by geographical area, but rather to the way the aforementioned factors are balanced by authorities. Enforcement practice can be described as ‘best’ where a system or operation is valuably applied in terms of road safety improvement while gaining overall public acceptance. In Italy, a land of frequent legal disputes around traffic enforcement, a number of discrete exa
  • Siemens influences congestion reduction
    March 12, 2021
    When it comes to reducing congestion, even relatively small interventions can have significant and positive knock-on effects, suggests Steve O’Sullivan of Siemens Mobility