ST PAUL, Minn. — Automated speed enforcement cameras may soon be a reality in Minneapolis and a few other cities, on a trial basis.
The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Friday approved Senate File 2026, which would authorize those devices as part of a pilot project in Minneapolis, Mendota Heights, plus two cities outside the Twin Cities metro area to be selected later by MnDOT.
The camera would capture images of the speeding car's license plate. The system would send a copy of the photo and a warning to the owner of the vehicle. If there's a second offense, the owner of the car would be given a choice between a $40 ticket or taking a free driver safety course.
Owners of cited vehicles could petition the local district court to provide proof they weren't driving at the time the camera captured them speeding or running a stop light.
"In the last two years alone we've had 31 people killed in traffic fatalities that clearly involved speeding or running a red light, just in the city of Minneapolis," Ethan Fawley, the director of the Minneapolis Vision Zero safety program, told lawmakers during a hearing Friday.
"One case was a mother walking with her three children trying to cross the street. When a driver -- a speeding driver -- ran through and ran them all over."
Some legislators brought out constitutionality questions, citing the fact that Minneapolis drew a lawsuit the first time the city installed red light cameras years ago.
Fawley said the city's legal staff and other experts have assured him the current version of the bill will stand up up to constitutional challenges this time around.
Fawley said drivers will see signs warning them they're about to encounter a camera. and the city will post the locations of all the cameras online. so people can map out where those cameras are before they hit the road.
"The idea is to change driver behavior, so they slow down and don't run through red lights," Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, the Minneapolis Democrat who carrying the bill in the Senate, told KARE.
She first introduced the bill in 2023 at the request of the City of Minneapolis. She renewed her efforts to move it through committees this year.
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"We have five young Somali teens killed by a speeding driver last June. Those were actually young girls in our community who go to a mosque I’ve attended a number of times, who I know their older sister who I’ve gone to school with."
Sen. Mohamed said last year some organizations raised questions about equity but are now satisfied that the pilot project won't be applied unevenly.
"Last year I heard some concerns from groups like ACLU, community groups that felt this was not going to be equitable, and so I pulled it back. And then we did some community group meetings. The city actually held two community meetings with impacted communities as well."
Sen. Jeff Howe, a Rockford Republican, said he wasn't comfortable with the idea of issuing warning tickets. He said real tickets issued by real law enforcement would do more to get drivers' attention.
"If we're going to change behavior, let's catch these folks and actually do something that makes a difference. Let them sit a day in jail!"