Dallas Police Considering New Speed ​​Cameras for Safety – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas police say they support a change in Texas law that would allow speeding tickets to be sent to drivers via radar cameras.

The idea is one of 10 ideas the department has identified as priorities for Austin’s 2025 legislative session.

Lt. Julio Gonzalez informed the City Council’s Public Safety Committee of the proposal and spoke to NBC 5 on Tuesday.

“We know that speed is one of the major factors contributing to fatal crashes throughout the state,” Gonzalez said.

“We want to have the opportunity to install speed cameras to make our roads even safer.”

It is an idea NBC 5 investigates I saw it up close last fall in Canada, where law enforcement officers in Edmonton use handheld radars and cameras to mail tickets to drivers. The practice is slowly catching on in the U.S., too, but the implementation is different from what you see north of the border.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, fixed safety cameras can reduce accidents by 54%. As in Canada, a fixed camera does not require a safety officer to operate the radar.

The FHA is relying on mobile units with cameras in trailers or vehicles that could reduce the number of injuries and fatal accidents on the streets of large cities by a fifth.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, speeding in New York City school zones has already fallen by 63% through the use of fixed cameras.

Six California cities recently received approval for a five-year pilot program to deploy speed cameras on their streets.

In Texas, however, a change in traffic law would be necessary to allow the use of safety cameras.

“We would need this to get approval to install these speed cameras,” Gonzalez said.

Members of the Public Safety Committee expressed support for the idea in a limited discussion this week. 13th District Councilman Gay Donnell Willis said speeding on Dallas streets is one of the most common complaints from voters.

“I think when it comes to automatic speed cameras, we need to do that,” Willis said.

“We are all suffering, our whole community.”

The DPD’s legislative priorities and the City of Dallas’ top priorities for the 2025 session are scheduled to be presented to the full Council later this summer.