Bill
H 3754
Allows municipalities to opt in to use automated road safety cameras (red light, speeding, blocking) with rules, fines, notices, privacy protections, and reporting.
Status & Procedural Timeline
- Introduced: January 15, 2025 (read first time same day). Referred to Committee on Judiciary (1/15/2025) and later to Transportation (2/27/2025). Hearing held/scheduled June 3, 2025. Reporting date extended to March 18, 2026. (Record also shows “Senate concurred” on 2/27/2025 per provided actions.)
- Primary sponsors/cosponsors include Rep. Steven Owens and many House members listed in the bill text.
Purpose / Intent
- To authorize and regulate municipal use of automated road safety camera systems (red‑light, speed, and related cameras) as a traffic‑safety tool, establish procedures and limits for their use, set penalties, create reporting requirements, and address privacy/records handling for images and identifying information collected.
Key Definitions
- “Automated road safety camera system”: device producing digital photos or video of a motor vehicle committing a “camera enforceable violation.”
- “Camera enforceable violation”: (i) failing to stop at a steady red light; (ii) making a prohibited right‑on‑red; (iii) speeding (violations of certain sections of chapter 90); (iv) blocking an intersection.
Major Provisions
- Municipal opt‑in: A city or town may adopt the chapter and install camera systems. Cameras may be on municipally controlled ways or on certain Commonwealth‑controlled ways (not on limited‑access highways) with written permission from MassDOT or DCR.
- Local approval & public hearing: Camera locations must be approved by city council (with mayor) or select board after a public hearing.
- Fines & liability: Civil fines for violations are set between $25 and $150. The registered owner is liable for fines except when the vehicle operator was separately cited under chapter 90C (criminal/infraction citation).
- Warning period & policy: Municipalities may issue warnings for education. For 60 days after the first camera becomes operational in a municipality, only written warnings shall be issued. Warnings must follow objective, consistent criteria in a municipal policy; MassDOT may provide guidance.
- Evidence & effect on record: A sworn certificate based on camera photos/data is prima facie evidence. Camera violations are not added to a person’s operating record and do not count as moving convictions for purposes of insurance surcharge (chapter 175, §113B).
- Administration: Each municipality must designate a “municipal designee” to administer the program; designee may hire or contract for services.
- Notices & procedures: The municipal designee must provide notice of violations to the registered owner identified in images (full procedural text truncated in the provided version).
- Records & privacy: The bill adds an exemption to the public‑records clause by specifying that photographs and personal identifying information collected by cities/towns under chapter 90K are subject to the new confidentiality treatment (clause added to sec. 7, ch. 4).
Reporting & Transparency
- Annual report to MassDOT (due by December 1 each year) must list camera locations, nexus/justification for each location, counts of fines and warnings, maintenance/calibration records, local crash data for each location, and analysis of police traffic stop frequency before/after camera implementation. MassDOT will post submitted reports on its website.
Who Is Affected
- Municipal governments choosing to adopt the program (must follow local approval, hearings, reporting).
- Motor vehicle owners/operators whose vehicles are photographed for violations (civil fines apply; recorded as civil but not as moving convictions).
- MassDOT/DCR (must grant permission for cameras on certain state‑controlled roads and will receive and post municipal reports).
- Public records custodians (new exemption for certain images and identifying information).
Potential Impacts and Considerations
- Traffic safety: Intended to reduce red‑light running, unlawful right turns on red, speeding, and intersection blocking.
- Revenue & enforcement: Generates civil fines at the municipal level; municipalities control whether to adopt and how to implement policies (including initial warning period).
- Privacy and transparency: Creates an exemption limiting public disclosure of images and identifying data collected under the chapter; imposes reporting obligations to MassDOT.
- Legal effects for drivers: Violations are civil and do not affect driving records or insurance surcharges under the cited statutes.
Notes & Limits
- The provided bill text is partially truncated (some implementation/notice/appeals details not included). The bill is opt‑in for municipalities and prohibits use on limited‑access highways. Related docket: HD 3053 (replaces).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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