In Washington DC, a councilmember is proposing a task force that will be dedicated purely to determining ways to lower fines for traffic violations.  According to councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), he will soon establish a task force that consists of a number of auto safety organizations.   The aim of the task force will to explore manners in which traffic violations fines can be reduced.

Councilmember Wells says that he will explore the Task Force’s recommendations, and determine whether they can be included in new legislation that he will soon introduce.

According to the Councilmember, there is an urgent need to stem the increase in fines for certain traffic violations.  In some cases, fines have increased by as much as 250% to 500% over the past few years. 

In many cases, safety systems like red light camera systems that were promoted by local authorities as ways to increase safety for motorists, have simply ended up becoming cash cows for law enforcement.  The safety goal has been overshadowed by the greed for revenues from fines.

In Washington DC, there has been an growing trend of using automated systems for the purpose of law enforcement.  In fact, from the mayor's budget, officials in DC estimate that automated camera systems to monitor motorists will rake in an additional $30 million in revenues a year.  During the fiscal year 2010 alone, Washington DC has taken approximately $51 million from such automated systems.

The public, which initially supported the use of red light cameras and other automated enforcement systems, is now becoming aware that these are revenue generation tools.  A recent poll found that most drivers believe that these camera systems are being mainly used to generate revenues in fines.