Connecticut state senator calls for Fairfield to pause its speed camera program
The town is projecting 190,000 warning violations will be issued during May.
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A Connecticut state senator is calling on the town of Fairfield to pause its speed camera program, which is set to start issuing fines from its locations near six schools on Monday, June 1.
During the May warning period, the town is projecting that it will issue 190,000 violations, which tate Sen. Tony Hwang says is alarming, but not necessarily surprising.
"We have created a lifestyle and a practice and culture of speeding in our community, and what this number should tell us, is something needed to be done," Hwang said.
As the top-ranking Republican on the State Transportation Committee, Hwang was one of the main voices leading to the passage of a 2023 bill that allowed towns and cities like Fairfield to install the speed cameras.
He says he still supports them, but believes the town should take a step back now and study the data from May.
"We need to change the culture and educate and raise awareness so that roadway safety and speed limit safety is respected and adhered to - not because you have big brother watching you," he said.
While the cameras have been discussed for over a year, and the town has done a large amount of outreach on social media. Hwang says more time is needed to spread the word about why people were receiving violations over the last month.
"Did the general public, and did the driving behavior fully understand?" He said. "The backlash reflects that they did not."
But Fairfield resident Mike MacDonald says that if people are paying attention to the road, "the signs are pretty clear, the speed limit is pretty clear."
MacDonald works in the mobility technology field and told News 12 that he had worked with similar camera programs before.
"I have witnessed first-hand just how it makes things safer, just how it makes people comply with the law," he said.
In a letter defending the program, Fairfield Police Chief Michael Paris shared a similar sentiment, writing, "If a citation changes behavior before a crash occurs, then this program has done exactly what it was intended to do."
"(The cameras) have been pretty well tested, pretty well evaluated. I think the proof is probably going to be in the facts," said MacDonald.
Fairfield police are expecting the cameras to generate about $3.2 million in June, with that number going down 10% to 20% the rest of the year.
Hwang says it is important that the town makes sure residents do not see the program as a money-grab.
Fairfield town and police officials have repeatedly stated that any money from fines will be used for roadway safety infrastructure and projects, something that was a condition of the original state law.
News 12 reached out to Fairfield First Selectperson Christine Vitale, who defeated Hwang in a special election for the office in February, and was told that she would not be responding to him.
