OLYMPIA -- Automated traffic camera fines would be lowered dramatically under legislation proposed by Sen. Jim Kastama.

"The traffic cameras were originally passed in the interest of public safety, but now they’re viewed as revenue generators," the Puyallup Democrat said. "Local governments are levying fines far higher than anyone in the Legislature intended."

In approving the use of automated traffic cameras in speed zones, the Legislature authorized governments to set fines equivalent to those for routine parking violations. But instead of mirroring typical parking fines, governments chose the costliest parking fines on the books — those for parking in handicapped zones. It’s a fine that typically runs into three figures.

“There’s a public official in Seattle who flat out calls these things ‘revenue generators’ and wants the city to install 70 more,” Kastama said. “It’s clear that the focus has shifted from public safety to revenue. This is not what the Legislature intended and it’s not what the public wants.”

Kastama’s Senate Bill 6410 would require the fine for a traffic camera violation to be that of an average parking fine. A separate bill, SB 6411, directs the state Traffic Safety Commission to annually report to the Senate Transportation Committee on the income and distribution of revenues from automated safety cameras.