Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

CT House okays traffic cameras

HARTFORD — Connecticut municipalities would have the option to use automated cameras to enforce speed limit and red light violations under a traffic safety bill passed Tuesday by the House on a 104-46 vote and sent to the Senate.

House Bill 5917 is a reaction to the deaths of 239 drivers and passengers and 75 pedestrians in 2022, the deadliest year on Connecticut roadways in decades, according to the state Department of Transportation.

To win passage, sponsors of the bill shed provisions that would have required helmet use by motorcyclists and banned the consumption of alcoholic beverages by passengers in most motor vehicles.

“The series of recommendations, though modified, before you will result in improved traffic safety, improve livability for our communities and avoid the tragic fatalities in many cases that we’ve seen throughout Connecticut,” said Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven.

The speed limit and red light cameras would be limited to school zones, defined pedestrian safety zones and other locations chosen by local officials and approved by the Office of State Traffic Administration. Speeders would have to be going at least 10 miles per hour over the limit to get an automated ticket.

“This is a hard choice we need to make,” said Lemar, co-chair of the Transportation Committee. “There needs to be new behavioral norms in Connecticut. What we’ve seen on our roadways, frankly, is shocking.”

Rep. Kathy Kennedy of Milford, the ranking House Republican on Transportation, said 90 people were killed on the roads in the first four-plus months of 2023.

“It’s really scary,” Kennedy said, describing accidents and reckless driving she’s witnessed on her commute to Hartford. “I don’t know that this bill will stop this. But we have to start somewhere.”

Acknowledging that the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws is controversial, Lemar said the bill includes safeguards against abuse. Camera locations would be subject to approval by local legislative bodies every three years.

Automated enforcement zones must be clearly marked, and fines would be capped at $50 for a first offense and $75 for a second offense regardless of a violator’s recorded speed. The revenue would go to municipalities and must be used for traffic-related expenses.

Violations would be handled more like a parking ticket than an infraction issued by a police officer. No points would be assessed to a driver’s license.

But opponents objected to the automation of law enforcement, the prospect of giving municipalities a profit incentive to give tickets, and the potential of discriminatory enforcement.

Despite Lemar’s protestations to the contrary, Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, said the bill was written to give discretion for issuing infractions. He noted that a municipal official after reviewing a recorded violation “may” issue a ticket.

“It’s discretionary whether or not that ticket is issued,” Fishbein said. “So we are opening the door to disparate treatment.”

Fishbein offered an amendment that would have struck the sections allowing enforcement by automated cameras.

“I think this is a bridge too far at this point, given the significant due process concerns,” Fishbein said.

Rep. Tom Delnicki, R-South Windsor, said Chicago has raised $1 billion over 10 years from its camera enforcement.

“That’s an amazing number,” Delnicki said.

Lemar said Chicago had a fine structure far more onerous that the limits of $50 for a first offense and $75 for a second offense in the Connecticut bill.

The Journal occasionally will offer articles from CTMirror.org, a source of nonprofit journalism and a partner with The Lakeville Journal.

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

BOND RESOLUTION DATED JUNE 15, 2026 OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE WEBUTUCK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AUTHORIZING NOT TO EXCEED $429,327 AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND/OR INSTALLMENT PURCHASE CONTRACTS TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION OF A SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLES AT AN AGGREGATE ESTIMATED MAXIMUM COST OF$429,327, LEVY OF TAX IN ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS IN PAYMENT THEREOF TAKING INTO ACCOUNT STATE-AID, THE EXPENDITURE OF SUCH SUM FOR SUCH PURPOSE, AND DETERMINING OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THERE-WITH.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.