DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill banning red light cameras in Texas.
Fifty four cities across the state use the cameras now.
Abbott posted video of him signing the bill on Twitter, saying, "It is now law."
"I was just ecstatic. I was over the moon," says Kelly Canon, who led a push to ban red light cameras in Arlington. "It's been wonderful."
Voters in Arlington passed a measure to shut down cameras there in 2015. Other cities in North Texas, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, McKinney and Plano are still using the cameras.
"The worst impacts that we see, other than head-on, are side impacts," says Plano Police Chief Greg Rushin. "Those are the things we're trying to prevent. This is what red light cameras do."
Twenty three other states use red light cameras.
This was the third time lawmakers had filed a bill to ban the cameras since they were first allowed in 2007. Cities that have contracts will be allowed keep using them until those contracts run out.
Dallas' contract runs through 2024. Fort Worth has a contract until 2026, but that contract has a clause that lets the city opt out early if a state-wide ban was ever passed. Denton has a similar clause.
The bill also prevents counties from refusing to renew registrations of cars with unpaid red light camera bills.
I just signed the law that bans red light cameras in Texas. #txlege pic.twitter.com/AyF28hxGwO
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 1, 2019
