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Could automated traffic cameras that catch you speeding and issue you a ticket be headed here to Minnesota?

Minnesota has never had automated enforcement systems

There are just some things that other states have that we've never had here in Minnesota. Like tolls on highways and interstates (though the Minnesota Department of Transportation apparently DID once consider such a thing a few years ago.) Or those automated traffic cameras that catch you running a red light or speeding and take a picture, allowing the state to then mail you a ticket.

We once got a bill in the mail a few years ago after we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge out in San Francisco. California took out the toll booths on that stretch of Highway-101 (to keep traffic flowing, I'm guessing) and now simply takes a picture of your license plate as you drive by, and then mails you a bill that gives you a certain amount of time to pay online-- or they then mail you a ticket, too.

Could automated traffic cameras be coming to Minnesota?

So, could something similar could be headed here to the Land of 10,000 Lakes? Well, a proposal to do just that was first introduced last year (as I wrote about HERE) but ultimately wasn't included in the state transportation budget.

A similar proposal was introduced again during the 2022 Legislative session at the capital in St. Paul earlier this year, part of a plan to crack down on speeding on Minnesota highways, which, according to Fox-9 TV, caused the highest amount of speed-related deaths here since 2003.

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According to the Minnesota Legislature site, the proposed bill (H.F. 2295) would create a pilot program that would use automated enforcement systems (that'd be your traffic cameras) to crack down on those drivers who speed through construction zones, a program favored by several state agencies and legislators.

Don't look for those cameras in Minnesota anytime soon, though

Fox 9 says while the Minnesota House included that pilot program in its omnibus spending bill this spring, the Senate did not. And seeing as legislators adjourned their 2022 session without passing ANY additional spending bill (which is responsible for MnDOT closing the medians on two busy intersections on Highway-14), speed cameras won't be coming to the Land of 10,000 Lakes anytime before 2023. And if they are approved then, they probably wouldn't be rolled out (even as a pilot program) until 2024.

So, for now, you'll still be able to tool down your favorite Minnesota road without worrying about a traffic camera busting you if you put the pedal to the metal. And speaking of roads, have you been on Minnesota's Must-Drive Road? Keep scrolling to see where it is-- as well as the Must-Drive Roads in every other state too.

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See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

 

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