No WhiteWash!

Federal agency declares use of red light camera stop lines to be illegal and potentially unsafe.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) last month issued an official ruling that found red light camera "violation lines" illegal. A number of jurisdictions across the country paint four-inch wide white lines on the pavement at what is known as the "prolongation" of the cross street’s curb line in order to facilitate the use of automated ticketing machines. These are not the "stop bar" or crosswalk lines that most motorists expect, but a third set of lines that appear at the very edge of the intersection.

Read more via Federal Agency Rules Traffic Camera Enforcement Lines Illegal.

Tennessee legislators may follow the lead of their Georgia counterparts, who in 2008 passed a law requiring an extra second of yellow time for traffic lights equipped with cameras, reports Andy Sher. After the extra second took effect, the number of violators caught by the cameras plummeted and many local governments abandoned use of the devices.

Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, says the Georgia law "disincentivized" use of the devices by reducing the revenue cities were collecting from the tickets. He says the extra yellow second law is an option for Tennessee legislators who oppose the red light cameras. The House Transportation Committee holds another round of hearings on red light cameras this week.

In Clarksville, a legal action has been filed contending that red light cameras violate the state’s law on private investigators, reports the Leaf Chronicle. The move revolves around plans to use photos taken by a camera as evidence against two motorists who allegedly ran through a red light.

The motorists’ lawyer argued that the private company, contracting with the City of Clarksville to operate the cameras, was effectively operating as private investigators without being licensed as required by state law. The photos thus should be excluded as evidence in court

The City of Clarksville argues that, even if the company did violate the private investigator statute, the photos can still be used as evidence.

via Red Light Reports: Longer Yellow Option & Another Lawsuit | Humphrey on the Hill | knoxnews.com

As Tennessee lawmakers question whether photo enforcement companies should be regulated, a pending court case could decide the question.

As members of the Tennessee General Assembly consider whether to impose new regulations on photo enforcement vendors in the state, a pending court challenge seeks the enforcement of existing regulatory statutes against the firms. The state House Transportation Committee yesterday held a hearing that examined how Lasercraft, a company based in Bridlington, England, operates red light cameras on behalf of the city of Knoxville. State Representative Ben West, Jr. (D-Hermitage) questioned why this company is not regulated by the state

Read more via Tennessee: Camera Company Challenged on PI License Issue.

A 2006 attorney general ruling and a 2009 law ensure photo enforcement remains illegal in South Carolina.
Earlier this year the South Carolina General Assembly enacted a law that will make it even more difficult for red light camera and speed camera vendors to attempt to do business in the state. Under a provision that took effect on April 9, police are authorized to replace traditional handwritten citations with "electronic traffic tickets" designed to speed the roadside ticketing process. These electronic citations, however, cannot be used as part of a photo enforcement system.

Read more via Photo Enforcement Illegal in South Carolina.

One thing that does bother me with photo enforcement is if someone borrowed my car tag and put it on another car which was just like mine.  Or take a picture of my car tag,  print a good quality digital reproduction and put it on a similar vehicle.  I can’t claim my car was reported stolen since they just borrowed my tag and returned it and I was not aware of it .  I can’t claim someone else was driving and it looks like I have no recourse.  I can just see the discussion now.  Is this your tag number?  Yes!  Do you drive a green 1951 Ford?  Yes!  Did anyone else drive your car on that day?  No, it was parked in my driveway all night!   Was your car stolen and did you file a police report?   No, when I went to sleep, it was in my driveway and it was there the next morning when I went to work!   In this case it you decide to take it to court and lose, then you get the points and higher insurance rates.

As the Kingsport BMA debates the future of red-light revenue cameras, I wonder how they would feel if the above happen to them.

See over 90 posts from this blog concerning Red-Light Cameras

Overall accidents rise at Baytown, Texas intersection a 18 months after installation of red light cameras.

Baytown 45 mph signAccidents rose after the installation of a red light camera at one major intersection in Baytown, Texas. The private company American Traffic Solutions began issuing automated tickets at the intersection of Garth and Baker Roads on March 21, 2008. Since then, safety has not improved at the controversial camera location.

Read more via Texas: Accidents Increase at Controversial Red Light Camera Intersection.

Judge allows College Station, Texas to settle a lawsuit and terminate the use of red light cameras to comply with a public referendum vote.

C Robert HeathA judge yesterday forced the settlement of a traffic camera company-backed lawsuit with the city of College Station, Texas over the public's November 3 vote to ban red light cameras. Although terms of the deal have not been released, the city council voted 4-0 on November 11 to abide by the results of the election, leaving American Traffic Solutions (ATS) with no hope of continuing its ticketing program without a costly legal battle.

Read more via College Station, Texas Red Light Cameras to Come Down.

In another story that ticket camera companies will insist is an isolated incident (despite a new incident seemingly surfacing each week), a Peoria, Illinois woman was sent a ticket that should have gone to another driver.

A Chicago traffic camera could cost you hundreds of dollars. It did for Peorian Casandra Davis, who wrote ‘We Hear You’ after getting tickets for something she says she didn’t do. Her ticket charged her $100 for running a red light in Chicago. The only problem is Davis was in Tennessee.

A red-light camera caught a picture of the car in action. The license plates look almost identical, with the exception of one letter. Plus, Davis drives a silver Impala, and the car in the photo is a red Buick.

Surely if she presented the city with proof of their mistake, they would immediately remedy the situation and apologize, right? Maybe not:

Davis says she called Chicago’s Revenue Department and sent proof, but instead of correcting the problem, Chicago increased her ticket to $200. Now Davis is worried she’s driving around with a bad driving record that’s not hers.

As usual, pressure from the media is the only thing that seems to force cities to fix their errors:

After we called the Department of Revenue we got Davis’ ticket overturned. Representatives say they confused some letters on the license plate.

via Red Light Camera Wrongly Tickets Woman Who Was Out Of State.

Thanks to an excellent piece of investigative journalism by David Goldstein of Los Angeles television station KCAL, motorists are getting the real accident numbers at Los Angeles camera-enforced intersections.

The city has claimed that the cameras reduced accidents by 34%, but a little fact-checking proved this assertion wrong:

Is it money or safety? We wanted to know actual numbers of accidents at red light camera intersections to see if they really went down.

When we asked, the LAPD became very defensive. The sergeant in charge told me in an e-mail, “The city would hope that it is the goal of KCBS/KCAL to discuss the positive aspects of the photo red light program.”

So we filed a public records request. The department charged us more than $500 for a computer run. When we got the numbers back, they told a different story.

We looked at every accident at every red light camera intersection for six months of data before the cameras were installed and six months after.

The final figures? Twenty of the 32 intersections show accidents up after the cameras were installed! Three remained the same and only nine intersections showed accidents decreasing.

Read more via Los Angeles Red Light Cameras Lead To Increased Accidents.

Traffic camera vendor temporarily thwarts voter effort to take down red light cameras in College Station, Texas.

Jim Ash on November 3A lawsuit funded by a photo enforcement company succeeded yesterday in temporarily blocking the results of the vote to end red light cameras in College Station, Texas. Judge Suzanne Stovall granted a temporary restraining order preventing the city from ending its contract with American Traffic Solutions, despite the November 3 vote of a majority of residents demanding that the cameras come down.

The law firm of Bovey, Akers and Bojorquez ostensibly filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Keep College Station Safe Political Action Committee (PAC), a group entirely funded by College Station's camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) and its subcontractors. Of the PAC's $67,100 in reported funding, the largest chunk — $30,000 — came directly from ATS. Garry Mauro, a paid ATS consultant, gave $5000. Another $8000 came from Signal Electric, a Washington-based contractor that installs red light cameras for ATS. ForceCon Services, a Texas-based red light camera installation subcontractor, gave $5000. Questmark Information Management Inc, a company that prints citations for ATS, provided a $16,600 in-kind donation.

Read more via Texas: Red Light Camera Company Blocks Referendum.