HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has signed a bill into law that prohibits municipalities from charging fees for police investigations of motor vehicle wrecks.

Municipalities that have been levying the fee charge drivers or insurance companies.

The township of Radnor, a suburb of Philadelphia, voted in 2006 to levy fees against nonresidents involved in wrecks. The township later repealed the ordinance after an outcry.

The new law, previously HB131, takes effect the middle of this month.

Meanwhile, Erlanger, Ky. (population 16,000) has adopted an ordinance allowing the city to charge nonresidents for its cost to handle vehicle crashes.

The fees laid out in the ordinance include $7 for every 15 minutes an officer is at the scene, plus $154 for every Erlanger police car that responds to an accident.

News accounts say the ordinance was written because a large percentage of accidents involve nonresidents and are costly to deal with. The city reportedly expects the ordinance to generate about $250,000 annually.

Erlander is off Interstates 71/75, near the junction with I-275 in northern Kentucky, south of Cincinnati, Ohio.

One Erlanger insurance agent told a northern Kentucky Website that he wasn't sure insurance companies would pay the fee and speculated it would be challenged in court.

Another new law in Pennsylvania will keep red light cameras posted along a 14-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1 in Philadelphia.

Since 2005, red light cameras along Roosevelt Expressway have been credited with a sharp reduction in traffic-related injuries and deaths. The cameras are posted at eight expressway intersections. Violators face $100 fines.

The new law extends the program along the 12-lane boulevard through 2011. Revenue from red light violations goes to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which says the bulk of the money will be used for improvements along the expressway.