We heard a common drum beat from so many of you in the cities and counties that the legislature continues to rob the municipalities of resources needed to support their vital services, like public safety. As a result, we fully expect that more and more cities will follow the lead of the dozen or more Florida cities that have opted to move forward with red light camera programs, fed up with a lack of leadership out of the legislature which has stymied red light legislation for over 10 years while hundreds of innocent Floridians have died in red light running collisions and thousands more have been injured and perhaps billions of dollars wasted on needless traffic collisions.

Perhaps a tidal wave of cities moving forward with red light cameras on their own, using common sense, and determining their own local public safety priorities will spur the state legislature to action. Either way, red light cameras are here to stay and over 300 cities across the USA have made them work to save lives.

We should all thank Melissa Wandall, President of the Stop Red Light Running Coalition of Florida for her determined efforts this session. She traveled to the legislature countless times on her own time and her own dime (and with her young daughter) to push for passage of this measure. We feel badly for her as she continues to be victimized by the legislature year after year following the loss of her husband. Let’s not let his sad passing be for naught.

In addition to directly contacting your State Senator and State Representative, visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/redlight/ to add your name to a petition sent to legislators.