ORLANDO, Fla. — The city of Orlando is moving forward with plans to spend $200,000 on new cameras for city vehicles.
City officials said the cameras will not only save money, but also keep an eye on employees.
The city has been testing the cameras at no charge since January, but they want to move forward and purchase 75 cameras for garbage trucks, partially because they're on the road 10 hours a day and are most at-risk for accidents.
In one incident, the cameras captured an incident that showed a garbage truck had its turn signal on when another driver ran a red light, causing a crash. The accident could've cost taxpayers a lot of money, but with the camera, there wasn’t much room to dispute who caused the crash.
The cameras are installed at the top of the windshield and anytime there's a sudden movement, the camera saves the video from eight seconds before and four seconds after.
“It's a shame that you have to keep an eye on somebody for them to tell the truth,” said Orlando resident Taylor McMurry.
“I think it is a waste of money for the city to put cameras in the vehicles,” said resident William Stiles.
In all, the 75 cameras will cost roughly $200,000, but officials said it’s too early to tell how much could be saved in insurance claims, which average $248,000 a year, city officials said.
Orange County vehicles have the same cameras. Before the cameras were installed, the county paid out $750,000 in accident claims each year. Now, they’re averaging $177,000, a 77 percent savings for taxpayers.
The county cameras even caught one employee hitting a pedestrian in a county vehicle.
Another county worker was fired after cameras recorded her hitting a curb. Several minutes later, she was recorded taking her hands off the steering wheel and fixing her hair before crashing into a mailbox.
“Nowadays, people are willing to do most anything for a buck, you know,” said Orlando resident Steve Harper. “So, if it could save some money on the insurance side, it would be worth it.”
The head of Solid Waste said since the test cameras were installed, he's seen the number of events his drivers may have been responsible for reduced from 50 a week to about 20, so it's already forcing city workers to be more careful.
City Council still has to approve the deal to buy the cameras. That decision could happen on Monday.