CURRENT NEWS - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 NEWS ARCHIVES
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The latest headlines from the world of photo enforcement. Updated almost daily...
County's speed cameras might go [Pima County, AZ]
May 18, 2013 AZStarNet.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wants to pull the plug on the 11 speed cameras installed on county roads.
The county's top official says he will recommend that the Board of Supervisors not renew the contract with Tempe-based American Traffic Solutions when it expires in December.
California: City Obsessed With Red Light Camera Ticket Numbers
May 17, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
California is the largest market for red light cameras in the country thanks to the fines set by the state running nearly $500 each. Municipalities that adopt the technology are quick to deny any possibility that financial considerations have anything to do with their decisions to monitor local intersections. Internal discussions between the city of Menlo Park and camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems suggest otherwise.
Paradise Valley mulls 5-year photo radar contract
May 10, 2013 NewsZap.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Paradise Valley Town Council is expected to vote May 23 on a new five-year contract with either American Traffic Solutions or RedFlex Traffic Solutions to continue photo radar traffic enforcement throughout town limits.
The Town of Paradise Valley generates a gross annual revenue of $830,445 and profits $256,500 from the more than 5,000 citations issued annually, according to Independent archives.
Monroe puts end to red-light camera contracts
May 9, 2013 HeraldNet.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Monroe Mayor Robert Zimmerman on April 8 sent the city's camera vendor, Arizona-based Redflex Traffic Systems, a letter saying the city won't renew its contract when it expires later this year.
MurfreesboroCAPE.org Say's TN Code Suggests Non Payment of Red Light Camera Citations Won't Go on Credit Report
May 8, 2013 WJLA - ArticleExcerpts:
People who run a red light at an intersection that is lined with the camera’s will receive a bill in the mail for $50. Under Tennessee Code it can’t be called a ticket because it is not written by an officer.
David and Meredith tell us that Tennessee Code cannot do anything about people who refuse to pay the so called fine if they are caught by a camera running a red light.
Chicago and red light vendor: Breaking up is hard to do
May 8, 2013 Chicago Tribune - ArticleExcerpts:
Chicago's divorce with Redflex Traffic Systems is getting messy.
In his hurry to sever ties with the red-light camera operator amid a burgeoning bribery scandal, Mayor Rahm Emanuel in February set a six-month deadline for Redflex to leave town after a decadelong relationship that produced more than $300 million for City Hall and $100 million for the company.
But now Emanuel's office is backing away from the eviction date, extending the deadline indefinitely as officials work to untangle a complex series of thorny questions from eager suitors about how best to take over a 384-camera network that grew to become Redflex's largest North American program.
Fairmount Heights' speed cameras not in compliance, county says
Apr 30, 2013 WJLA - ArticleExcerpts:
Prince George's County is now taking action to stop the unauthorized cameras in Fairmount Heights from sending out tickets.
Fairmount Heights never received the proper permits or memorandum of understanding from the county for the installed speed cameras on Sheriff and Addison roads. The town also appears to be in violation of a state law that allows photo enforcement only in school zones and requires that cameras are properly announced via signage.
Fairmount Heights speed cameras under scrutiny
Apr 29, 2013 WJLA - ArticleExcerpts:
The speed cameras in Fairmount Heights certainly aren’t popular with drivers. But now county officials are taking a hard look at the small town's cameras.
Fairmount Heights never got the proper permits or memorandum of understanding from Prince George’s to make sure the system meets the county's law which allows photo enforcement only in school zones and only they if they are properly announced.
City in $2 million dispute with Xerox over camera tickets
Apr 24, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
Baltimore officials are refusing to pay the city's former speed and red-light camera operator $2 million for its final three months of work, a period that preceded the troubled start for the new contractor in January.
The city stopped issuing tickets from the cameras for weeks because of the rocky transition from the old vendor, Xerox State and Local Solutions, to Brekford Corp.
Xerox says it's owed money for services provided in October, November and December, according to Solicitor George Nilson, the city's chief lawyer.
California: Audit Finds Split-Second Yellow At Red Light Camera Intersection
Apr 25, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Red light camera opponents often charge municipalities exploit intersections that have dangerously short yellow times for the purpose of issuing tickets. An outside audit of the Sacramento, California red light camera program confirmed that tickets were issued at an intersection where the yellow warning period on occasion flashed by faster than the eye could see.
According to the traffic controller, the intersection of Mack Road and Valley High Drive was supposed to provide 4.7 seconds of yellow. The Redflex camera system reported seeing yellows as short as 0.056 seconds on July 11, 2012 at around 9:30am. The short yellow kicked in during at least eleven signal cycles. The rest of the intersections were found to be within 0.05 seconds of the programmed time.
City to void more than 6,000 camera tickets
Apr 23, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
Baltimore City said Tuesday that it will throw out more than 6,000 speed and red-light camera tickets because its former contractor has stopped showing up in court to defend them — the latest sign of the dysfunction dogging Baltimore's speed camera program.
City transportation officials say they lack the evidence to fight the appeals on their own. Voiding the tickets means the city is forgoing the chance to collect more than $300,000 in fines.
Woodlands Red Light Cameras Terminated
Apr 20, 2013 The Courier of Montgomery County - ArticleExcerpts:
After almost six years of operations, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack has terminated the use of red light cameras in The Woodlands. However, that move may have violated the county’s agreement with Arizona-based Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. for operation of the red light photo enforcement program.
Chicago traffic-camera scandal hurting Phoenix-based Redflex
Apr 19, 2013 AZCentral.com - ArticleExcerpts:
A traffic-camera scandal in Chicago is costing 65 or more Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. employees their jobs as the company restructures.
Phoenix-based Redflex, a subsidiary of an Australian company, said Friday it is laying off about 16 percent of its U.S. workforce of 410. Spokeswoman Jody Ryan said the layoffs will include Phoenix and other locations.
Council to Consider Legal Action Against Red-Light Camera Company
Apr 16, 2013 Murrieta Patch - ArticleExcerpts:
In response to recent news that American Traffic Solutions continued to collect data while its red-light cameras were thought to be in the off mode at three Murrieta intersections, the Murrieta City Council will ponder whether to sue the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company.
Councilman Randon Lane on Tuesday requested a future discussion on the possibility of a lawsuit after the Council listened to public comments made by many who oppose the red-light cameras.
Redflex losing contract bids amid Chicago scandal
Apr 11, 2013 Chicago Tribune - ArticleExcerpts:
The board of commissioners in Orange County, Fla., voted unanimously this week to abandon negotiations with Redflex, the highest-scoring bidder on the county's plan to install as many as 80 traffic cameras in suburban Orlando. Citing an ongoing federal criminal investigation into allegations of a $2 million bribery scheme in Chicago and the company's potentially shaky future, commissioners opted instead to go with their second choice.
In Prescott Valley, Ariz., Town Council members have ordered staff not to consider Redflex when its contract is up for renewal in October. "I've lost faith in Redflex as a corporation," Councilman Rick Anderson said at a March study session attended by more than 50 people who came to oppose a continuation of the red-light camera contract.
In San Rafael, Calif., City Council members are expected to consider the bribery allegations in May when they take up the issue of whether to expand or kill a Redflex red-light camera pilot project now underway. "Just because of the nature of the allegations, I can't help but think it would be a consideration," Mayor Gary Phillips said.
Speed Camera 'Farce'
Apr 17, 2013 Great Lakes Advocate - ArticleExcerpts:
"The recent use of speed cameras, operated by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) in Macintosh Street Forster is, in my opinion, a farce," Mr Heat said.
"The area is not a black spot nor the site of many accidents. The introduction and placement of mobile speed cameras, at the discretion of the RMS, is being abused and appears to be aimed at revenue raising only. The placement of these devices, if they are to be used at all, should be left to local law enforcement officers who have the appropriate knowledge."
California: Firm Rigs Data In Bid To Keep Red Light Cameras
Apr 16, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Ever since November when voters in Murrieta, California rejected red light cameras at the ballot box, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) has been on a campaign to turn them back on. The strategy has been two-fold: use the courts to overturn the public's decision, then convince the city council to reactivate the devices in the name of public safety. Anti-camera activists say they have caught the photo ticketing company manipulating data to achieve these ends.
City won’t renew red-light camera contract
Apr 10, 2013 Snohomish County News - ArticleExcerpts:
MONROE - The City Council decided to terminate its contract with red-light camera company Redflex Traffic Systems.
The City Council voted 4 to 2 to send Redflex a formal letter saying the city wouldn’t be renewing its contract, which expires at the end of the year.
Westchester changes red-light enforcement
Apr 4, 2013 The Doings La Grange - ArticleExcerpts:
Citing a lack of customer service with its present vendor — the Village Board unanimously approved an agreement with SafeSpeed, LLC for red-light photo enforcement. As part of the transition, the village is providing a 90-day contract termination notice to current provider RedSpeed Illinois, Inc.
City under fire for speed camera calibration methods
Mar 29, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
In an article posted on its website earlier this month, the Maryland Drivers Alliance, which scrutinized Laurel's speed camera records, states that the city relied on the manufacturer of city speed cameras to certify the cameras, even though state law calls for certification by an independent laboratory.
"It's a very loose interpretation of the law to say they complied," said Ron Ely, who edits an anti-speed-camera blog called Stop Big Brother Maryland, and worked with the Maryland Drivers Alliance to obtain and scrutinize the Laurel records.
Ely warned that "if Laurel continues to play loosey-goosey with testing requirements, they could find themselves in the same position" as Baltimore. Earlier this year, Baltimore announced it will overhaul its entire speed camera system after the cameras were found to be flawed, issuing scores of erroneous tickets.
Speed Camera 'Illegal'
Mar 26, 2013 DailyAdvertiser.com - ArticleExcerpts:
A GROUP of legal specialists are claiming the use of NSW speed cameras is in breach of Commonwealth law – and they plan to take their case all the way to the High Court of Australia.
He said it all stemmed down to the fact speed cameras need pattern approval.
Surprise will not renew deal with photo-radar firm Redflex
Mar 26, 2013 AZCentral.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Surprise will not renew its contract with the Redflex photo traffic radar company because the agreement is costly and speed cameras may face future state restrictions, city leaders said.
California Committee Would Give Photo Ticket Points To Non-Drivers
Mar 22, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Owners of vehicles registered in California could have their license suspended for red light running violations, even if they never get behind the wheel of their cars. Under a bill considered by the state Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, red light camera tickets would be turned into administrative violations that hold the owner responsible for $500 and license points for violations committed by others.
Class-action lawsuit filed over Elmwood Place speed cameras
Mar 21, 2013 WLWT.com - ArticleExcerpts:
ELMWOOD PLACE, Ohio —An attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit against the village of Elmwood Place over its speed cameras and the tickets issued from them.
Mike Allen filed the suit Thursday, seeking recovery of fines already paid to the village.
Arizona Town Has Photo Enforcement Lobbyist Conduct Audit
Mar 19, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
In response to allegations of wrong doing with its photo enforcement system, the town of Prescott Valley, Arizona turned to industry insider John D. Wintersteen to conduct an audit. The results were published earlier this month.
In December, Prescott Valley officials had tasked Wintersteen with investigating an anonymous tip that police officers were dismissing photo radar tickets issued to family members. The allegation was taken seriously because it was copied to the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training (AZPOST) board, and the complaint turned out to be well founded. Wintersteen gathered from Redflex copies of any tickets for vehicles registered to town police officers that were rejected. In most cases, the citations were intercepted long before they could be dropped in the mail.
Judge voids speed camera ticket for Charlie Brennan, citing invalid ordinance
Mar 16, 2013 ST. Louis Post-Dispatch - ArticleMOLINE ACRES • A judge on Friday dismissed a speed camera ticket given here to local radio host Charlie Brennan, saying the ordinance that allows the cameras is in conflict with state law.
The ruling, while not precedent-setting, could hold sway with other judges who are asked to weigh the validity of such speed enforcement, said Bevis Schock, the attorney who represented Brennan.
Jefferson Parish stoplight fine revenue to be refunded to motorists ... eventually
Mar 13, 2013 NOLA.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Stoplight scofflaws who were fined by Jefferson Parish's roadside camera system likely will get their money back. But perhaps not all of it, and certainly not soon.
The Parish Council voted Wednesday to refund whatever is left in the $19.7 million pool of escrowed fine revenue after it resolves a pair of lawsuits. One was filed by motorists against the parish and camera contractor Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., the other by Redflex against the parish for more than $7.3 million of the pot.
Redflex faces growing US backlash
Mar 13, 2013 Australian Financial Review - ArticleExcerpts:
Redflex, the embattled red light camera group, faces a growing backlash in the giant US market after a $US2 million alleged bribery scandal cost the company its largest contract in Chicago.
Orange County, Florida, postponed a vote scheduled for Tuesday in the wake of the news out of Chicago and a complaint from a rival bidder that a ranking system used by the county favoured Redflex.
He told shareholders last week around 110 cameras had been removed in the first half of FY13 but claimed none of them were due to the ongoing problems in Chicago.
Speed cameras are a scam, Ohio judge rules
Mar 10, 2013 CNet.com - ArticleExcerpts:
As WDTN-TV Ohio reports, Judge Robert Ruehlman this week declared that speed cameras were "a scam."
He vehemently criticized the authorities of Elmwood Place, Ohio, a village that installed speed cameras and then began to bathe in revenue as divas bathe in champagne.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the judge also described the cameras as "nothing more than a high-tech game of 3-card Monty."
Stoplight camera ticket money could be refunded by Jefferson Parish
Mar 7, 2013 TheIND.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Jefferson Parish Council Chairman Chris Roberts urged Thursday that the local government refund its share of almost $20 million collected from drivers who were ticketed by stoplight cameras. He said lingering questions about the fairness of the program, as well as a newly disclosed $2 million bribery scandal involving the same contractor in Chicago, argue for giving back the money.
"There were already concerns about the program and whether due process was followed," Robert said. "I can't speak to whether there was bribery here. I certainly hope not."
Ohio judge calls speed cameras 'scam'
Mar 7, 2013 WDTN.com - ArticleExcerpts:
HAMILTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A Hamilton judge ordered a small village to stop a speeding ticket blitz after the installation of traffic light cameras.
Judge Robert Ruehlman ruled Thursday that Elmwood Place is running what he called a scam against motorists. The village began using the cameras in September. It resulted in 6,600 speeding citations in the first month at $105 a pop.
Hayward, California Dumps Redflex And Red Light Cameras
Mar 7, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Redflex Traffic Systems is losing another customer. On Tuesday, Hayward, California's city council voted 6-1 to end the use of red light cameras at the earliest possible opportunity, joining thirty-four other California cities that have decided to abandon automated ticketing. Hayward's decision comes at a time when the Australian-based company is reeling from investigations of its involvement in bribery schemes in Chicago, Illinois and two other cities.
"Rear end accidents increase significantly because people come to a screeching halt," Urban said. "There's no proven correlation between red light camera systems and consistently decreasing crashes."
Circuit judge rules Baltimore Co. speed camera contract is illegal
Mar 6, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
A Circuit Court judge has ruled that Baltimore County's contract with its speed camera vendor is illegal, because it pays the company a cut of each citation issued — a ruling that could help others challenge their citations in court.
While Judge Susan Souder's ruling dismissed only a single speed camera ticket, the opinion is believed to be the first time a judge has ruled against the legality of the so-called "bounty system," one of the most controversial elements of the law.
Redflex outlines bribe probe in Chicago contract
Mar 3, 2013 Chicago Tribune - ArticleExcerpts:
In a release Sunday to Australian authorities and shareholders, the parent company for Chicago's red-light camera vendor outlined a series of its own failures and misdeeds involving an alleged bribery scheme the company said was "apparently proposed" by the former city official who oversaw its contract.
The then-president and then-executive vice president of the Phoenix-based subsidiary "had knowledge that would have made any reasonable person highly suspicious that this was a bribery scheme, and they acted improperly in allowing this arrangement to occur," the Australian parent company, Redflex Holdings Ltd., said in the summary filed with the Australian Securities Exchange.
The probe also found that the subsidiary falsely told the Tribune and city officials last year that it had thoroughly investigated allegations of wrongdoing after the Tribune obtained a two-year-old whistle-blower letter by a company employee. The subsidiary said it hired Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin LLP to do this latest probe after "the Chicago Tribune published an article casting doubt on the prior investigation's conclusion."
Collier County's red light cameras shut down for good
Mar 1, 2013 News-Press.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Collier County’s controversial red-light cameras were turned off for good Thursday night.
The cameras at 10 Collier intersections will be removed in the near future by the camera operator American Traffic Solutions, spokesman Charles Territo said. Territo said Friday that he couldn’t give a timeframe when the cameras will be taken down. He said ATS turned them off at midnight Thursday in accordance with a December ruling by Collier County commissioners.
The commission voted in December to end its contract with ATS on Feb. 28 because commissioners felt the cameras weren’t effectively stopping crashes. Collier installed the cameras in April 2009. There were 17 red-light crashes in the county from July 2006 to March 2009, and 17 red-light crashes from April 2009 to December 2011, according to department of highway statistics.
Lights, cameras, reaction: Resistance builds against red-light cameras
Feb 28, 2013 NBC News - ArticleExcerpts:
"What the issue really comes down to is these companies are ripping people off by hundreds of millions of dollars, in the name of caring about our safety and our health and our kids," said New Jersey Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, who has introduced anti-red light camera legislation to the state Legislature.
Recent news stories have fueled opposition. In Chicago, an alleged pay-to-play scandal led the mayor to ban one company from bidding for future contracts. Millions were spent on pro-camera lobbying in Florida and other states. In Iowa, doubts about the constitutionality of using cameras as traffic enforcers led a state senator to introduce a bill to ban red-light cameras – a move already taken by at least nine other states.
[POWAY, CA] Mayor to recommend ending red-light cameras
Feb 26, 2013 UTSanDiego.com - ArticleExcerpts:
POWAY — Poway Mayor Don Higginson will recommend to the City Council next week during his State of the City Address that the city should terminate its contract with a private firm that operates red-light cameras at three intersections.
Redflex out as Chicago red-light camera operator
Feb 8, 2013 BizJournals.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Redflex Traffic Systems, the current operator of Chicago’s red-light traffic cameras, will not be allowed to bid on the next service contract with the city, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel took that step after Redflex’s Australian parent company, Redflex Holdings, announced resignations from its board chairman and another board member, and requested a halt in trading of its stock, the Tribune said. Though the company did not explain the resignations, it did say that stopping trading was due to an investigation in the United States, according to the report.
GOOD RIDDANCE TO RED-LIGHT CAMERAS
Feb 3, 2013 NaplesNews.com - ArticleExcerpts:
The troublesome red-light cameras are on their way out -- at least in Collier County.
They are far more trouble than they are worth. Their primary effect is to make the driver look up to see if there is a blue light at the intersection, signifying a camera, instead of watching the car in front of him.
Mayor Filner, SDPD End Red Light Camera Program
Feb 1, 2013 NBC San Diego - ArticleExcerpts:
Mayor Bob Filner announced Friday that the city will be ending a controversial red light camera program.
The program charges violators up to $490 when the automated cameras catch motorists running red lights. The program contract with the city expired Thursday night and will not be renewed, Filner said.
Baltimore Judges Throwing Out Speed Camera Tickets
Jan 29, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
District judges in Baltimore threw out just over half of the 3,000 speed camera tickets they considered last year after hearing appeals from motorists, city records show.
Another Speed Camera Company Sues a Competitor
Jan 28, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
A Swedish speed camera firm is suing Maryland-based photo enforcement company Brekford claiming it has been ripped off. In 2011, Sensys cut a deal to sell automated ticketing machines and services to Brekford, a division of Sigma Space Corporation. According to the complaint filed with a federal district court in Florida, Brekford failed to provide services that were valued at $260,000 as required under a contractual arrangement.
League City: Red-light cameras coming down
Jan 25, 2013 KHOU.com - ArticleExcerpts:
LEAGUE CITY — The first of League City’s red-light cameras is coming down this week.
City Manager Mike Loftin said the city was able to work with the camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems, to turn off the camera facing the right turn lane on the southbound Interstate 45 frontage road at FM 518.
The camera was turned off at midnight Jan. 18 and was removed Thursday evening.
League City voters overwhelmingly voted to remove the red-light cameras last year; 77 percent of the voters decided to ban them.
Geneva Will Say Goodbye to Red-Light Cameras March 8
Jan 24, 2013 Geneva Patch - ArticleExcerpts:
Geneva's three-year experiment with red-light cameras at two dangerous intersections will come to an end in early March.
Geneva police Cmdr. Julie Nash said by e-mail this week that the contract is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. March 8, 2013. That "fade to black" marks the end of a sometimes controversial police enforcement technology that was hailed by some as the wave of the future and condemned by others as too much "Big Brother" oversight by local government.
West Palm Beach to add red-light cameras at 25 intersections [AFTER CRASHES DOUBLE]
Jan 22, 2013 Palm Beach Post - ArticleExcerpts:
WEST PALM BEACH - The city will significantly expand its red-light camera program this year after commissioners voted Tuesday to place cameras in 25 new intersections, bringing the number of intersections equipped to catch drivers who illegally run red lights to 32.
The move comes despite a recent city police report that tracked five of the existing seven red-light cameras and found crashes nearly doubled in those locations between February 2011 and January 2013, to 66 from 36.
Troubled transition shuts down city speed cameras
Jan 22, 2013 Baltimore Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
Baltimore's speed and red light camera system has experienced a near-complete shutdown during what city officials are calling a problematic transition to a new contractor, records show, and the new vendor says it could take four months to get its system running.
Man accused of speeding 94 times cleared
Jan 18, 2013 UPI.com - ArticleExcerpts:
ROUEN, France, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A French judge has acquitted a man allegedly photographed speeding 94 times, after finding prosecutors could not prove the man was driving at the time.
Speed-camera tunnel vision - Sham tickets expose the financial motivation behind robotic enforcement
Jan 15, 2013 DNAinfo.com - ArticleExcerpts:
Over the years, like hundreds of thousands of other drivers, the 49-year-old Chatham resident has been slapped with $100 tickets after being photographed entering an intersection while the traffic light was red.
But Hinton said it was the third ticket he received about a month ago, at 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue, that inspired him to start an online petition to rid Chicago of the cameras.
Potential Chicago speed camera operator in deal to refund $4 million in New Jersey
Jan 10, 2013 Chicago Tribune - ArticleExcerpts:
One of the two companies battling for Chicago's new contract to tag speeders in school zones with automated cameras has agreed to pay up to $4.2 million in partial refunds on a half-million New Jersey tickets that might have been issued in violation of state law.
Photo radar just a cash grab
Jan 9, 2013 Toronto Sun - ArticleExcerpts:
Or in this case a straight-out attempt to relieve drivers of their hard-earned cash by a cynical revenue -raising scheme dressed not so much as a feathered pond dweller as a cost saving efficiency.
"His position is that police officers are a very expensive resource to use for something which technology can do ... and much more economically," Pugash said by way of explanation, presumably without blushing.
A 1993 study in Riverside, Calif., examined "the effect of photo-radar and speed display boards on traffic speed ... on comparable streets."
Its findings were salutary. Put simply, unmanned speed boards were more effective in deterring speeders than radar.
Speed Cameras So Unreliable In One City, Officials Are Scrapping System
Jan 8, 2013 AOL Autos - ArticleExcerpts:
Automated speed cameras have become so unreliable in Baltimore that city officials are removing all of the cameras in operation and replacing with newer models in a $450,000 overhaul, officials said Monday.
Speed-camera tunnel vision - Sham tickets expose the financial motivation behind robotic enforcement
Jan 3, 2013 Washington Times - ArticleExcerpts:
Speed-camera salesmen are finding it tougher to get away with the usual platitudes about the reliability of their products. As 2012 drew to a close, Xerox, the photocopier giant in charge of photo- enforcement programs throughout the country, admitted that 1 out of every 20 citations issued at certain Baltimore locations was inaccurate.
O'SCANLON: RLC COMPANIES - A MODEL FOR BAD BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2013 Politicker NJ - ArticleExcerpts:
In continuing his assault on the failed red-light camera (“RLC”) program, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-13) today shined light on the ethical lapses of the camera operators in other jurisdictions and efforts to manipulate data and distort evidence in hopes that no one will notice the products these companies push have failed to improve safety.
Red-light cameras: A spy-and-snap intrusion
Jan 2, 2013 Hernando Today (Tampa Tribune) - ArticleExcerpts:
There are almost 1,000 red-light cameras snooping and snapping at intersections across Florida. They are the robotic spies of cities too cheap to hire cops to police their traffic and too deceitful to admit that the cameras have one overriding purpose: to make money by ringing up as many citations as possible.
Sometime in 2013, the Florida Supreme Court will decide whether the installation of spy cameras before July 2010 was legal. That was the year the Florida Legislature passed a law allowing local governments to install cameras. The law also strictly regulated the system with a universal $158 fine, more than half of which is due the state, and the right of those cited to appear before a traffic court magistrate.
Man crashes his car into photo radar van in Tucson
Jan 2, 2013 ABC15 - ArticleExcerpts:
TUCSON, AZ - A man is in custody in Tucson after allegedly crashing his car into a parked photo radar van.
Tucson police say 25-year-old Matthew Jones is being held on suspicion of felony criminal damage and driving under the influence.
He was arrested after the New Year's Day accident in the midtown area.Police say Jones' vehicle veered off the road and struck the radar van.
New Jersey: Partial Refund For Illegal Traffic Camera Ticket Recipients
Jan 2, 2013 TheNewspaper.com - ArticleExcerpts:
More than 81,000 citations worth $10.2 million were issued in New Jersey through red light camera programs that were not in compliance with state law. Rather than fight a drawn out class action battle to defend the money it collected, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) last week filed a proposed settlement in federal court designed to limit the firm's liability to a sum "not to exceed" $4.2 million. Federal magistrates have scheduled a January 22 hearing to consider the settlement offer.
Lawyers representing motorists caught the firm issuing tickets in eighteen municipalities where officials failed to file traffic studies justifying the duration of the yellow timing at monitored intersections, as required by law. The municipalities also failed to perform the mandatory six-month inspection of the photo ticketing equipment. ATS insists the company did nothing wrong.
Shot with own speed camera, D.C. cop fires back
Jan 1, 2013 Washington Times - ArticleExcerpts:
Metropolitan Police DepartmentSgt. Mark Robinson tried for months to persuade D.C. traffic officials to rescind more than 100,000 defective citations he said were a result of unreliable speed cameras, but when he got caught by one of them himself in the Third Street Tunnel, he took a different course.
The result was a decision in his favor by a hearing examiner that could brighten the day of anyone who has ever been caught by a speed camera — and cause nightmares for budget-stressed city officials who depend on them. If upheld, that decision could force D.C. officials to return $1.8 million in penalties associated with more than 14,000 tickets that misidentified the posted speed limit.