The City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, has voted to allow police to use 14 radar cameras at the city’s busiest intersections to record drivers’ speeds and issue citations if drivers exceed the speed limit.
“This is not about issuing citations, but rather getting people to slow down so they stop running into each other,” says Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Capt. Dave Haggist, head of the traffic unit.
Police officers will set up the radar cameras on tripods in vans so they can transport them to different locations. The cameras take photographs up to every half-second. A picture and a $50 citation will be mailed to drivers found to exceed the speed limit. The tickets will not be reported to insurance companies or add points to driver’s licenses.
Revenue from the citations will go to local schools—$11 of each of the first 4,380 citations per month and $20 for each additional citation.
Signs warning motorists of the cameras will be posted beneath speed limit signs in the areas where the cameras are being used. Charlotte police hope the signs will also help to deter speeding.