Governor Pitches Insurance Cameras - WNEP

The governor is pitching new ways to decrease the state's deficit without raising taxes. One of his ideas is rigging cameras along Pennsylvania roads to catch uninsured drivers.

The next time you're driving down the highway, imagine a camera taking a picture of your license plate and checking to see if you have auto insurance.

If Governor Ed Rendell gets his way, it could happen in the next year.

"Instead of taxpayers paying for unlawful people, they'll pay for themselves," said Joe Kane of Downingtown. He said he's got insurance so the cameras wouldn't bother him.

The cameras would be part of Rendell's plan to generate money for the state to fill the $472 million hole in the budget, left empty when plans for tolling on Interstate 80 were shot down.

Rendell said the cameras placed on highways would make the state more than $100 million a year.

"I understand why they would do it because it does cost money for people that do have insurance if they get into an accident with someone who doesn't," said Sean Coleman from Lake Harmony.

Newswatch 16 found people who don't like the idea, like Jim Calvin from Carbondale.

"I don't particularly like the fact of somebody being able to just take a picture of you and know exactly, not just your whereabouts, but your personal business," said Calvin.