Some cities are refusing to comply with a new Georgia law mandating a one-second increase in the duration of the yellow warning period at intersections equipped with red light cameras. At least seven cities that made the required timing increase in January experienced an immediate 80 percent decrease in the number of violations. Of these, Duluth, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville and Suwanee put the brakes on their red light camera programs after the data made it clear that the programs would no longer make money. Rome is now leaning toward dropping its program as well.

Cities around the country are ignoring state laws designed to curb the financial incentive for private red light camera contractors to generate the greatest number of violations possible. In Texas, for example, the city of College Station signed a deal to allow American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to operate red light cameras and collect fines on the city’s behalf. In return, College Station gives back to ATS a per-ticket fee that is capped at a rate of $4750 per intersection approach per month—in direct conflict with a state law that took effect on September 1, 2007.

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A decision issued last month by the Appellate Division of the Superior Court in Sacramento County, California would invalidate at least eighty percent of red light camera tickets in Sacramento—if drivers were to bring their case to court and contest their citations. A three judge panel found the photo system did not generate evidence sufficient to convict local motorist David Graham, 38, of running a red light. “Sometimes you can fight city hall,” said Graham. “Now those bozos will have to give me back every penny of the $371 they bilked me for the ticket.”

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A tax levied on speeding tickets funds the re-election efforts of two-thirds of Arizona’s politicians and provides lawmakers with a personal financial incentive to protect controversial photo enforcement programs. In 1999, a ten percent surcharge was imposed on all traffic tickets to create the “Citizens Clean Election Fund.” The fund allows politicians to avoid tedious fundraising efforts. After raising just $5 each from 220 people in a district, candidates for public office qualify for public financing money to match private expenditures. In effect, these lawmakers collect $16.50 for their campaigns each time a photo radar ticket is issued on an Arizona freeway. This adds up to big money. In 2008, traffic tickets generated $10,095,771 in revenue for the clean elections fund.

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A deeply divided Ohio House of Representatives on Thursday passed sweeping legislation that would impose new penalties on motorists, including a statewide speed camera program. State Representative Peter S. Ujvagi (D-Toledo) inserted the controversial proposals into a “must pass” $7.6B transportation funding measure to avoid individual discussion of the merits of the many programs rolled into the 361-page bill. Only one Republican voted in favor of Ujvagi’s plan, which passed by a margin of 53-45.

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The Norcross, Georgia City Council voted Monday to end its relationship with LaserCraft Inc., a red light camera company whose US headquarters lie just three miles down the road from city hall. LaserCraft’s troubles began last year when the Georgia General Assembly enacted a law requiring a one second increase (over the minimum national standard) in the yellow signal warning time at any intersection equipped with a red light camera. City documents show that once the law took effect, the accident and red light violation problem in Norcross virtually disappeared.

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New York City announced last Monday that it will install automated bus lane ticket cameras in defiance of a decision by the New York state legislature last year to reject the concept. Mayor Michael Bloomberg crafted a plan to bypass lawmakers and use the power of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to issue $150 tickets to cabs that are photographed straying momentarily into the specially marked lanes. Bloomberg hopes that once the camera program is operational he can convince lawmakers to give him the authority to expand the program beyond cabs, allowing every vehicle in the city to be ticketed.

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Arizona’s top state-level prosecutor has challenged the most prominent county-level prosecutor’s interpretation of the state freeway speed camera statute. State Attorney General Terry Goddard issued a memorandum to the Department of Public Safety and to county prosecutors declaring his interpretation of the law would allow motorists to be locked behind bars based solely on a photograph generated by the fixed and mobile cameras operated by the Australian company Redflex Traffic Systems. Goddard took action in direct response to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas who announced Monday that he would not bring criminal charges against anyone accused by a Redflex machine of driving more than twenty miles per hour over the speed limit.

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In a 2-1 decision, The Eighth District Ohio Court of Appeals ruled last week that Cleveland couldn’t issue red light camera and speed camera tickets to the drivers of leased vehicles. The dispute arose after a pair of speed camera tickets were mailed to the Dickson and Campbell law firm in January 2007. Attorney Blake A. Dickson noticed that under Cleveland’s ticketing ordinance, only the registered owner of a vehicle could be held liable for an automated ticket. He then appealed the $100 fines before the Cleveland Parking Violations Bureau, arguing that his law firm leased the car from VW Credit Leasing, the registered owner. “OK. Well, we are going to go after the [lessee] then, sir,” the hearing officer said as he declared the firm guilty.

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Motorists will no longer be sent to jail on the mere accusation of a machine in Maricopa County, Arizona. County Attorney Andrew Thomas yesterday announced that he will dismiss all criminal speeding and reckless driving cases brought to him when the only evidence presented is a photo radar ticket. Thomas condemned the process that imposes jail time on those accused of driving 20 MPH over the speed limit without any human witness to the alleged crime.

“The bottom line is, the way the law is written and the way our Constitution is written, to bring criminal prosecutions based on photo radar evidence only is not something our office can do, or frankly should do, given the Constitutional mandates,” Thomas said.

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A newly elected member of Congress is leading the effort to ban the imposition of tolls on existing interstate highways. Last week, US Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) introduced HR 1071, the Keeping America’s Freeways Free Act. “Tolls are taxes, plain and simple,” Thompson said in a statement. “The Interstate Highway System—the greatest public works project in history—was built with federal funding to unite our nation. The Interstate Highway System’s profound effect upon the American economy has contributed significantly to development and improved quality of life through increased economic efficiency and productivity. The Keeping Americas Freeways Free Act will preserve this notion and allow for the free flowing of commerce not only in Pennsylvania, but across the nation.”

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The mayor and police chief of a federally-funded Louisiana speed trap town were arrested Wednesday on felony corruption charges. A Tensas Parish grand jury indicted Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham for felony theft, malfeasance in office, payroll fraud and using public funds for personal use. Waterproof Police Chief Miles Jenkins faces three felony counts for receiving bonuses for meeting traffic ticket quotas and altering traffic citations. The activities of both officials were fueled by federal taxpayer dollars. In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.

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Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell (R) is proposing a budget that increases the financial burden on drivers by $171M in order to close the state’s growing $850m deficit. Rell’s plan increases license and registration fees, imposes freeway speed cameras and assesses new charges on speeding tickets. If implemented, the programs would represent a permanent and steadily increasing source of revenue for the state.

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On February 13, 2004, two families in separate vehicles were driving at the “Four Corners” intersection of Highways 14, 34 and 63. These roads merge together on a sharp curve in a blind crossing without a stop or yield sign. The two cars collided nearly head-on, taking the lives of three and severely injuring four others. The surviving family members sued Darren Griese, in his official capacity as South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) Pierre Region Traffic Engineer. On Wednesday, the South Dakota Supreme Court issued a ruling absolving the state from any liability in cases where it fails to warn motorists about roadways with an inherently dangerous design.
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According to a Winnipeg, Canada court ruling issued last month, “work zone” speed camera tickets are invalid if they are issued in an empty work zone. Judicial Justice of the Peace Norman Sundstrom tossed citations issued to nine defendants who traveled through workerless work zones without exceeding the normal speed limit for the road they were on. The decision was based on a nuanced reading of the interplay between the provincial photo radar law and the law governing construction zone warning signs.

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