The leading legislative critic of New Jersey's controversial red-light camera pilot program is hopping mad, after trying, without success, to get red-light camera data from Edison Township for the past two months.

Red light camera in Brick
Red light camera in Brick (Jason Allentoff, Townsquare Media NJ)
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Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon has fired off a letter to Department of Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson, asking him to throw Edison out of the pilot program if the town does not provide the data within one week.

"Either they're incompetent, or they're hiding something," says O'Scanlon, "we're going to stay on top of the issue and do all we can to eliminate towns' ability to rip people off in this way."

He points out the red-light camera program is all about collecting information.

"The fact that the information is being guarded by some entities and manipulated by others is distressing."

But not surprising.

"You don't have to look very far to figure out the motivation," he says. "This is huge money that these people, the municipalities and the companies that are operating the cameras legally are stealing from people."

O'Scanlon adds there are bills in the Legislature that would simply make the system more fair, such as increasing yellow light times so people are not suddenly caught in intersections with quick changing lights. But they are not even being considered, which he calls "disgraceful."

"We should eliminate this program," he says. "But if the pilot program is going to stay until its end, and then God willing end at that point, we should make it more fair."

 

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