Louisiana § RS 32:43 - Automated speed enforcement devices; prohibition

§ RS 32:43. Automated speed enforcement devices; prohibition

            A.(1) Local municipal authorities or local parish authorities shall not install or utilize automated speed enforcement devices to regulate traffic on interstate roadways within their corporate or territorial limits. No equipment not on a state right-of-way or local authority right-of-way is authorized to utilize electronic speed enforcement devices.

            (2) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to highway construction zones, where work is being performed by the Department of Transportation and Development or a private contractor under contract with the Department of Transportation and Development, where construction workers are present. However, the exemption provided by this Paragraph shall not apply to local municipal authorities and local parish authorities.

            (3) Automated speed enforcement devices and mobile speed cameras shall not be used anywhere other than school zones lawfully posted in accordance with R.S. 32:47. An unmanned automated speed enforcement device shall not be used to issue speeding citations in a school zone when a driver is not exceeding the posted speed limit immediately prior to the school zone if school zone signs are not posted at the entrance and exit of the school zone.

            (4) The provisions contained in this Section shall not apply to a governing authority of a municipality with a population of less than sixteen thousand and more than fifteen thousand according to the latest federal decennial census within a parish with a population of less than ninety thousand and more than seventy thousand according to the latest federal decennial census.

            B. For the purposes of this Section, the term "automated speed enforcement device" means an unmanned or handheld camera or optical device installed to work in conjunction with a traffic control signal or radar speed detection equipment, or both, and designed to collect photographic evidence of alleged traffic violations for the issuance of traffic citations by recording images that depict the license plate or other identifying feature of a motor vehicle not in compliance with instruction of a traffic control signal or posted traffic sign.

            C. Effective January 1, 2015, local municipal authorities or local parish authorities shall not impose or collect any civil or criminal fine, fee, or penalty as a result of an image produced by an automated speed enforcement device in violation of this Section.

            Acts 2014, No. 95, §1, eff. May 16, 2014; Acts 2024, No. 722, §1; Acts 2025, No. 107, §2.