A House committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that would repeal Washington, D.C.’s authority to use traffic cameras and prohibit right turns at red lights.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform advanced the “Stop DC CAMERA Act” by a vote of 21 to 19, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against. The bill would get rid of D.C.’s contentious traffic cameras that automatically clock speeders, cars that run red lights and stop signs, and violate bus and truck restrictions, while also generating lots of revenue.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), will now head to the full House floor for a vote, where it will need a majority to pass.
Washington, D.C., has over 530 traffic cameras across the district, installed at intersections where there’s a demonstrated need, such as areas with high crash rates or school zones. The cameras generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year for the district, but critics have argued that the cameras unfairly rake in revenue from impoverished residents who cannot afford the hefty fines and have magnified racial inequities across the district.
Perry called the system a “shameless money grab” and said the cameras “generate millions of dollars of revenues from the people that can likely least afford it.”
“The residents and commuters of Washington are both sick and tired of being fleeced for hundreds of dollars of petty, automated traffic fines, all in the name of alleged safety,” Perry said.
D.C.’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer said in January that, over the last three years, the traffic cameras have generated over $620 million in revenue. Fines for violations caught on camera range from $100 to $500. The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is also supportive of dismantling the traffic cameras, according to Politico.
Several studies have shown that traffic cameras have reduced speeding where they have been installed. A 2024 Washington Post report showed that speeding infractions dropped from 7,556 citations to 316 in under two years after cameras were installed.
But Perry pointed to road fatalities across the district to bolster support for the bill.
“According to public traffic data, DC traffic fatalities for 2023 were 52 and in 2024 were 52, were the highest they’ve been since 2007, which was 54. So it’s not getting safer out there, folks,” Perry said.
Democrats and D.C.’s representative Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) have largely opposed the bill on the premise that the D.C. Council, elected by district residents, should be the ones to call the shots on local laws. Holmes Norton also argued that AAA has said automatic enforcement is an “effective tool to make roads safer.”
“The substance of this bill should be irrelevant, since there is never justification for Congress to legislate on local matters, but I will discuss it. DC is not unique in either using automatic traffic enforcement or prohibiting turning right on red lights,” Holmes Norton said.
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Ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) also made the argument for D.C.’s autonomy on the issue.
“I will agree that they can also be misused in many cases, and I’ve seen that happen in cities and communities. At the same time, I believe that the decisions for the district should be left to the district and the community,” Garcia said.