Posted on 03/18/2015 1:24:29 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
MIAMI (Reuters) - As courts across the United States struggle to determine the legality of red-light cameras, drivers are slipping through a patchwork of often conflicting laws to avoid millions in fines.
Two south Florida judges dismissed 24,000 red-light tickets worth an estimated $6.3 million earlier this week over concerns Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions Inc (ATS), which provides the cameras, was too involved in the outcome of cases.
By Florida law "the police have certain powers they cannot delegate to private vendors," said Ted Hollander, who represented the Florida drivers. "What we found in testimony is that (the company) had discretion and employees were dismissing cases."
In late 2014 a class action in Missouri over similar issues with ATS was settled with more than 100,000 Kansas City-area drivers eligible for part of a $16 million settlement.
Earlier that year New Jersey was forced to dismiss 17,000 tickets after ATS failed to mail them within a 90-day cutoff period.
ATS spokesman Charles Territo said the recent problems were nothing new to the company, and that previous attempts "to undermine the technology" had failed.
ATS, in which Goldman Sachs Group is a minority shareholder, and Australia-based Redflex Holdings are among the nation’s largest providers of red-light camera systems.
ATS helps municipalities issue about 4 million citations annually through 2,500 red-light cameras in 275 communities in more than 20 states, Territo said. The income generated has in some instances become an important revenue stream for municipalities’ budgets.
However the number of communities across the United States with red-light cameras has fallen nearly 13 percent from its high in 2012 to 470 in 2014, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.reuters.com ...
I avoid going to such cities or buying anything from them.
Annoy the MARXISTS, I say destroy them all.
There was a piece on our local news last night about one of these cameras in Council Bluffs, IA, which is being taken out “soon”. The person speaking on behalf of the city said that this ONE CAMERA was currently generating over $100,000 in fines revenue for the city, but had been generating over $1,000,000 per year, when it was initially installed.
He said the revenue had mainly dropped due to people who use that route “all the time” having learned to be sure to stop longer there, for the camera.
It seemed like a huge amount of money in fines being collected for one camera. I think this one is located at the stop light at the right turn of cloverleaf “off ramp” from the interstate.
In Jacksonville (Florida), we have an increasing number of red-light cameras. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that uniformed police officers review each and every video and make their own judgment on whether to issue a ticket or not.
I found that little bit of information refreshing - and much more comforting than what seems to happen elsewhere.
The only nice thing I’ve said about a Democrat in a LOOOONG time was when my local council member voted against these things.
I’d like to alter my license plates and run red light cameras dressed in various funny costumes.
Bump.
That’s great until you find out that a lot of cities with this procedure got sued because the officer(s) weren’t even reviewing the video but were actually just rubberstamping them.
Alter your license plate to read like those of city councilmembers and the mayor, then run a bunch of red lights. Watch how fast the cameras go away then.
Here in Houston, the city decided to put cameras in. It then went to the ballot box. People strongly opposed the cameras so that the city had to take them down. The contractor sued the city for breach of contract and won big bucks. That showed ‘em! ;-)
Things like that have been done. Digital camera + color photo printer = instant license plate to fool the cameras with.
That’s a better idea than mine.
“””The good news is that uniformed police officers review each and every video and make their own judgment on whether to issue a ticket or not.”””
The tickets get sent to the owner of the vehicle, not necessarily the driver. It is absolutely illegal but that doesn’t stop Big Brother from his fundraising ideas.
In Kansas City the cameras were placed at intersections that experienced the most accidents caused by drivers running the red lights (you know, Amish neighborhoods, but not all, some were in Gentile neighborhoods.)
The usual lawyered up, claiming black drivers were issued more tickets than white drivers, while across the street in Johnson County, KS, cameras had been in existence for some time, especially at busy intersections.
Nary a peep from Kansas drivers (or even MO drivers driving in KS) but across the State Line, where the cameras evidently can distinguish black drivers from non-black drivers, cries of racism went up.
I don't particularly care for cameras ar intersections or anywhere else, for that matter, however red light running has become a lot less and accidents dropped along with them.
I know they were sold to various municipalities were sold the cameras as being almost free for the "enhanced revenue" they gather. I think a lot of cities have found that just not to be the case, at least on the KS side of the line.
I don’t know how true it is or if it works but it makes sense to me.
Motorcycle hackers have taken infra red (think night vision)LEDs and places them in frames around their license plates. Apparently the camera’s are overwelmed by the IR and can not take legible pictures of the license plates. I did not learn this from Italians on various motorcycle rides in the Alps where there are speed cameras every 100 feet.
“ATS, in which Goldman Sachs Group is a minority shareholder”
I should have known.
Cummuturds are hyperventilating in unison as one of their cash cows gets neutered by the courts.
Cash cows are essential to Commuturd/Democratic run communities if their welfare supported Urban Feral ‘Baby Momma’s’ are to be supported in the style needed to assure more bastard offspring, poorly acculturated, and fit only for a life of Democrat Party dependency.
One red light camera was installed here supposedly to reduce red light running. Though everyone knew where the camera was located and took precautions, the number of tickets issued kept going up. There was suspicion that ATS was shortening the yellow lights to keep up their revenues. The state legislature finally outlawed red light cameras
Baltimore County MD also required an officer review each ticket. A few thousand tickets were refunded when it as revealed that the officer in question had been dead for 6 months
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