Ravenwood's Universe has a story about how the cameras set up at intersection in LA County may have been set up to issue bogus tickets.
It all began in August 2000, when county officials placed cameras at the busy intersection of Whittier and Atlantic boulevards.So he* went to the scene, armed with a video camera. He taped the light and took the tape home for analysis — a practice he said he has used at other intersections throughout the area in the last few months.
He said he complained repeatedly to the California Highway Patrol. County Department of Public Works officials went to the intersection to check his claims. They discovered that the light stayed yellow for 3.5 seconds.
Because the camera started snapping after three seconds of yellow, more than half of the 5,063 tickets issued over the cameras' 42 months of operation were invalid — the drivers had been "caught" while the light was still amber.
Superior Court Judge David Sotelo ordered the county to refund fines paid by 2,014 motorists — a ticket that cost $271 before Jan. 1 and $321 since.
Unfairly convicted motorists may also be eligible to recoup costs for lost work time, increased insurance premiums and traffic school, said Miguel Santana, a spokesman for county Supervisor Gloria Molina, who represents the affected area. [full story]
*The he in this story was not identified by name, but was only described as a retiree who publishes this website: http://www.highwayrobbery.net/. Neither whois data nor a search of the website discolosed his identity. Is this a job for The Smoking Gun?
Posted by Tiger at May 17, 2003 12:01 PM | TrackBack