Washington state’s second highest court endorsed the growing municipal practice of using extended vehicle impound periods to rack up fees. The a three-judge court of appeals panel considered the question in the context of whether Raymond Mann’s vehicle was rightly taken for thirty days by Kent police on March 13, 2009.
California’s second highest court has no interest in dealing with parking tickets. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal on April 12 rendered a decision in a case involving nothing more than a disputed $44 parking ticket. Motorist Angelica Guevara argued that the citation she received on December 28, 2008 for parking in Bell was void because the city failed to provide adequate notice of overnight restrictions. The justices made it clear they will not consider the merits of this or any other parking case.
The highest court in Massachusetts ruled Tuesday that a police officer is not justified in stopping and searching an automobile merely because he smells the presence of marijuana. The Supreme Judicial Court took up the case of Benjamin Cruz to clarify the legal impact of a 2008 voter referendum that had decriminalized possession of less than one ounce of pot in the Bay State.
The Los Angeles, California police commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to approve a report defending the status quo regarding the use of red light cameras. In January, the city council tasked the commission with reviewing a report by Safer Streets LA that found the department had misrepresented accident statistics to make the program appear effective (view report, 250k PDF). Another report suggested lengthening yellow times one second beyond the bare minimum would reduce violations and accidents (view report, 450k PDF). A third report concluded that 75 percent of tickets were issued for rolling right turns, which have never been a significant cause of accidents in Los Angeles (view report).
An ongoing federal lawsuit against the speed trap town of Ridgeland, South Carolina uncovered internal emails last month that shed light on the motivation behind the state’s only photo enforcement program. Since July 2010, Ridgeland has allowed the private firm iTraffic to operate a mobile speed camera van on Interstate 95, despite a state law outlawing the practice and a pair of attorney general opinions warning that the photo ticketing was not legal (view opinions).
The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.
A New Mexico district court judge on Thursday transferred a case challenging the legality of photo enforcement systems to the state’s second highest court. In a written decision, Judge Manuel Arrieta suggested it would save time and expense for the court of appeals directly to weigh the case against Cristobal Rodriguez who was issued a red light camera ticket by the private company operating on behalf of the city of Las Cruces.
Users of the Dulles Toll Road in Northern Virginia filed a federal class action lawsuit yesterday seeking refunds from toll hikes imposed to fund a $7 billion mass transit project. Great Falls resident John B. Corr and Hillsboro resident John W. Grigsby argued that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has no authority to set toll rates and that the diversion of over $130 million from motorists constitutes an illegal tax.
The employee of a photo enforcement firm was arrested in Victoria, Australia yesterday after being accused of adjusting the speed readings in a database of photo tickets. Police believe the man identified as a 36-year-old from Craigieburn changed the date, time, speeds and other variables on a total of 67,541 red light camera and speed camera citations. The data were altered between February and March while the man worked for Serco, the private firm in charge of ticketing operations.
The city council in Highland, California decided three years ago to allow an Australian company, Redflex Traffic Systems, issue tickets at two intersections. Nearly 4300 “violations” have been generated since August 2008, each worth nearly $500. A committee of the council opened debate yesterday on whether the automated ticketing machine contract should be renewed. When the same question was debated last year, officials focused on safety.
Activists in Winnipeg, Canada have hounded city officials about problems with the photo radar program. The group WiseUpWinnipeg caught the city using improper warning signs, hiding information from freedom of information requests and exploiting short yellow timing at intersections. The group’s leader, Larry Stefanuik, believed it was time to “amp it up” after his findings have been ignored.
The California Senate Appropriations committee voted 9-0 on March 29 to advance legislation that would alter the way red light cameras operate in the state. State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) re-introduced legislation that had stalled last year tweaking some of the more controversial aspects of automated ticketing programs.
The top legal speed in the state of Kansas is one signature away from becoming 75 MPH. State legislators on Friday gave final approval to a bill raising the limit from 70 to 75 MPH. If approved by Governor Sam Brownback (R), Kansas would join a dozen other states that have already made the move. Only Texas and Utah have a higher, 80 MPH limit.
The Tampa, Florida city council tomorrow will consider adopting a contract granting American Traffic Solutions (ATS) the right to issue $158 tickets at intersections. At a meeting last month, half of the council’s members supported installation while the other half opposed — forcing the idea to be reconsidered at the upcoming meeting where a member absent from the last meeting is expected to cast the deciding vote. Opponents suggested the cameras had little to do with safety.
An Australian company has hired kingmakers from Chicago, Illinois to prevent Texas residents from being able to decide whether or not red light cameras should be used in their community. A “grassroots” group calling itself the Texas Traffic Safety coalition filed a lawsuit to stop the city of Port Lavaca, Texas from holding a referendum on the photo enforcement program run by Melbourne-based Redflex. Although no court order was issued in the case, the city council decided not to hold the election, despite the city charter’s instruction that the council must place a qualified petition on the ballot.
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