Posted on 05/06/2010 10:26:41 AM PDT by Ken H
Arizona governor orders strategic withdrawal of statewide photo radar contract.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's administration has officially canceled the state contract that authorized Redflex Traffic Systems to issue automated freeway speeding tickets. The program, started in 2008 by Brewer's Democratic predecessor Janet Napolitano, will be terminated according to statement issued earlier today to Australian Securities Exchange investors.
"Redflex has now received formal notification from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that the contract will not be renewed," Redflex stated.
Although the official contract expiration date is July 1, inside sources expect speed vans to be pulled off the highways much sooner. As a result of the lost revenue stream, Redflex said it would take a $5 million loss on top of a previously announced $4.9 million loss arising from residents realizing that tickets sent in the mail can be safely ignored. A 1992 appeals court ruling declared void any attempt to impose a fine without personal service (read opinion).
Intense public pressure against photo enforcement in general spurred the decision to end the contract. While the loss of the statewide ticketing program is significant in terms of revenue to the state and other interested parties, the industry hopes to relieve the pressure that has been building to outlaw the far more lucrative red light camera and speed camera programs in local jurisdictions.
"Even if the program does continue in early FY2011, a number of groups opposed to photo enforcement are trying to have a referendum put to voters in November 2011 to effectively end photo enforcement in the state of Arizona," a Redflex statement issued last month explained. "Whether this referendum occurs, and the likely outcome, are difficult to predict at this stage."
Referendum organizers insist that they will press forward with their effort because there are no guarantees that the freeway cameras will not make a comeback after the elections. Municipal cameras, moreover, issue just as many tickets as the statewide cameras and raise all of the same constitutional and safety issues.
"Arizonans know that these cameras increase accidents (view studies)," Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar representative Shawn Dow told TheNewspaper. "Now it is time for the red light cameras to come down."
On top of the contract difficulties, a lawsuit by competitor American Traffic Solutions has brought the Redflex legal bill for the year to $6.2 million. The company reported a pre-tax profit of $13.4 million last year. In April, Redflex reduced the expectation to $7 million. The latest announcement dropped the figure to just $2 million.
The jury trial in the case ATS v. Redflex will commence at 9am on May 11 before US District Court Judge Frederick J. Martone. The trial is expected to last six days.
More near tailgating accidents than ever as unsuspecting drivers approach the traffic camera zone and brakes are suddenly applied ahead for no apparent reason. Government....GO HOME!
FMCDH(BITS)
Traffic cameras cannot talk to the occupants of the car & determine if any of them don’t have papers.
I don’t like the camera ticketing anyway- The camera companies get part of the revenue- & then they demand a VERY SHORT cycle of light changes.
I drive a Chevy dually & am ofter towing a 4 horse trailer. Not Kosher to leap forward with horses in the trailer.
No way I can safely get thru an intersection from a dead stop with a very short time cycle. Those cameras would record me as going thru a red light be the time I get thru a wide intersection.
Woohoo. Now we need to get rid of the city cameras, and pass that referendum. Even though these things aren’t enforceable they’re still evil, and the faster they go away the better.
Three weeks three home runs.
Would these be the photo enforcement vans we’ll see out in the middle of the desert while inbound from California on I-10?
In Tucson being a process server is a growth industry.
All of the photo tickets are delivered by Process Servers because of the previous state law ruling.
Arizona Company
Hey Arizona! wanna change Governors?
Nope. It's better. They are based in ... Arizona.
Scratch a Orwellian neo fascist program, find the author is a "Progressive".
Has this issue ever been resolved with traffic cameras and the Constitution? Since you have the right to confront your accuser, it would appear to present an intractable conundrum.
and the faster they go away the better.
I read about some teenagers in Maryland who use their computers to create fake cardboard license plates using the plate numbers of adults they don’t like, and then go speeding past the cameras. With any luck this trend will catch on with the Yutes nationwide.
AZ is sounding more awesome by the day.
That was the sole reason Austin did not fully boycott AZ. It is based in AZ, and Austin PD LOVES those &*^%$#@ cameras.
Son-of-a-b****!
I just paid one of these tickets. $181.50. Wonder if I can get my money back.
Yep, them’s the ones.
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