The Lockport City Council has voted to do away with red light cameras come November, the month when the contract runs out. They would have ended the program sooner but for a $30,000 penalty clause. The council sees the cameras as detrimental to business and of no real benefit to drivers. Read the full article here.
The Arizona Republic reports today that traffic cameras are costing cities money rather than raking in the huge promised profits. The cities insist that cameras were never about money. The article does a good job of reviewing statistics to determine the costs of photo enforcement. Check it out at this link: Traffic cameras not profitable for Arizona cities
In an appeal decided April 5, 2011, Judge Peter J. Cahill of the Gila County Superior Court, found that a photo radar ticket issued by Star Valley to Michele Power was faulty. Based on the lack of foundation in certifying the ticket, the judge overturned the trial court judge’s fine and sent the case back to the Star Valley Court with orders to dismiss the ticket. Michele Power handled her case in court and on appeal based on the fact that the ticket was issued without anyone identifying the driver before issuing the ticket.
“This is a victory for people who believe that the rules must be followed when a photo radar ticket is issued. Michele stood up for what she believed in and the appellate court agreed. Consistently municipalities are being told by the appellate court that they can’t just issue tickets to registered owners without more. There must be some investigation done to identify the driver before a person certifies under oath that the ticketed person did in fact violate the law,” said Susan Kayler, an Arizona attorney who authored Smile for the Speed Camera–Photo Radar Exposed!
More information about photo radar laws can be found at PhotoRadarLaw.com.
A California Grand Jury investigating irregularities with the number of red light tickets issued by photo enforcement has issued its final report. The study concludes that the cameras were installed at intersections without significant accident risk and that many tickets were unfairly issued. Read the entire report by clicking here.
Shawn Dow, vocal opponent of photo radar cameras due to their infringements on Constitutional rights, participated in a debate over the use of speed cameras in Arizona cities and towns. The mayor of Paradise Valley and an ASU professor participated on Horizon, a show hosted by KAET Public Television in Tempe, AZ. See the full video here: What the Studies Say on Photo Radar Debate
The NY Times credits a “legal theory” that violators had to be personally served with tickets, a murder, and a group of “conservatives” (gotta love that!) as the reasons that photo radar cameras were taken off Arizona highways. Read the article here: NYTimes. Read author/attorney Susan Kayler’s take on the article at her blog here: SusanKayler.com
