Iowa’s Governor Branstad is not happy with what he perceives as the unfairness of traffic cameras. He says he’d sign a bill banning the use of them in Iowa. He's wrong. They are working on some roads especially on I-235 between Des Moines and West Des Moines. 

See Branstad Says He Would Sign Traffic Camera Ban, KCRG, TV-9. Apparently while visiting Arizona he was mailed a $200 traffic ticket after his speed was 10 miles over the posted limit while driving across the desert in a rental car.

As a personal injury attorney I don't find the outright ban encouraging. Anyone who has driven on I-235 from West Des Moines to Des Moines before the traffic cameras were installed knows what that was like. It's a race track with no traffic cop. Interstate 235 needs cameras. There are some locations where traffic cameras have helped to slow down the traffic and reduced the number of accidents and near accidents. Totally banning cameras would only encourage the morons who drive like they are on the Newton Speedway. Why should the Governor give them the green light? 

Resources:

Committee approves traffic camera changes, Quad-City Times

Get Rid of Iowa Traffic Cameras, Facebook

Iowa Traffic Webcams, Leonards Worlds

Central Iowa Traffic Cam Targets Wrong License Plate, KCCI

Find Traffic Cameras by Map by TrafficLand

Get Traffic View on your iPhones, iTunes

Iowa Lawmakers consider ban on traffic cameras, Instapundit.com

Update:

Camera ban moves ahead as argument heats up – Classic debate between liberty and security, January 26, 2012, Des Moines Register, Jason Noble

Des Moines police say red light cameras are reducing crashes, January 24, 2012 – Anyone who’s driven on I-235 after the cameras were installed knows this is true. The speeds have dropped and it’s less like the Iowa Speedway and more like it should be, a commuter route into the City from West Des Moines.