THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 31, 2026 Page 9 CAMERAS | FROM PAGE 1 portation and transit safety a focal point in setting priorities for ways to improve and preserve the well-being and quality of life for residents. The $575 million economic development bill — where the speed camera language is inserted — still would have to be approved with a formal vote by the Mass. Senate, then would have to pass the Mass. House, as well as being signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey, before it would take effect. The recent deaths of two bicyclists in Massachusetts, both following collisions with trucks this month of July, have kept transportation and transit safety in the forefront. Denise Olsen, 74, was killed while bicycling in Westport, Mass., on July 13 after being struck by a dump truck. In another high-profile incident, Louisa Gag, 36, a well-known greater Boston area bicycling activist who worked as a transportation planner for the City of Boston, was struck by a truck and killed on Tremont Street in Mission Hill on July 9. Gag’s death especially shocked the transit safety/bicycling community. At the start of the recent 5th Middlesex District state Senate candidates forum on transportation issues, moderator Noah Tuke asked for a moment of silence from the audience to recognize both of these women whose lives were tragically lost this month. The legislation at the state level would involve speed cameras in specific safety zones and did not include cameras at traffic lights or regular “straightaway” streets and roads in communities. To date, 26 states now use speed-detecting cameras, mixed between those in safety and school zones, as well as “Red light” cameras at traffic lights that detect both speed and if vehicles do not honor the red lights stoppage signal. The states of Georgia, Maryland and Virginia have the most communities involved, with over 50 in each state. In other states they are used in far fewer cities. In California, for instance, one of the country’s biggest states, they are only in Oakland and San Francisco. For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 617-387-2200 orInfo@advocatenews.net
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