Free Republic

<p>Those big, ugly early birds began circling over the corporate headquarters of the revenue-camera industry last week when federal prosecutors announced that felony corruption charges had been filed against the Chicago city official in charge of one of the world’s largest red-light camera operations. More dominoes are expected to fall as FBI agents take the investigation to other cities.</p>

The Michigan lawmaker sponsoring a bill authorizing red light cameras has made a U-turn on the issue. Rep. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, last year co-sponsored a bill that would have banned red light cameras. This year, he sponsored a bill that would have brought red light cameras to traffic intersections across the state. However, Rep. Schmidt said he has chosen not to move the red light authorization bill forward because of concerns he says he now has about traffic cameras and privacy issues. He made the revelation after Michigan Capitol Confidential inquired about his...

Florida drivers who unsuccessfully contest red light camera tickets will have to pay $250 in administration fees, in addition to the cost of the ticket, under a new state law that took effect this month. The state legislature authorized the higher administration fees despite revelations earlier this year that state and local governments surreptitiously reduced yellow light times at intersections with red light cameras in order to induce more red light-running and more ticket revenue. Local governments often view the red light cameras as revenue makers, serving as a form of hidden tax on motorists. However, the enhanced “tax” money...

<p>Those traffic cameras drivers hate and municipal bean counters love have brought a small village in Ohio to a grinding halt.</p> <p>Elmwood Place (pop. 2,188) has seen four of its six Village Council members resign amid public outrage over a flurry of fines issued by the cameras. The devices have raised nearly $2 million for the tiny Cincinnati suburb, but angry drivers and shopkeepers complain the ticket blitz from above could turn downtown Elmwood Place into a ghost town. Now, with two-thirds of the council gone, partly in protest over the cameras, the governing body can't reach a quorum to conduct the people's business.</p>

It is a petition to end what many Tucson drivers describe as a traffic light trap. John Kromko is the man behind the petition. His group, Tucson Traffic Justice, claims the cameras are a scam. ... Ditching the cameras is not as far-fetched as it may seem. More and more cities are shutting down the system including San Diego, Los Angeles and Tempe.

TAMPA BAY, Florida (WTSP) -- A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida's rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines. The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state's policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations. The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs). While yellow light times...

The president, chief financial officer and top lawyer for Chicago's red light camera company resigned this week amid an escalating corruption scandal that has cost Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. its lucrative, decadelong relationship with the city. The resignations came as Redflex said it was winding down a company-funded probe into allegations of an improper relationship between the company and the former city transportation manager who oversaw its contract until 2011, a relationship first disclosed by the Tribune in October. A longtime friend of that city manager was hired by Redflex for a high-paid consulting deal. The company recently acknowledged it...

Speeding tickets generate revenue for the city or county in which they’re issued. If the police department is low on revenue, they’ll set up a speed trap on a busy road and lie in wait for the non-violent speed violators. If the city is really desperate, they’ll invest in a speed camera system that will be distributed around the city and send citations to the registered owners of the alleged speeding vehicles. And if they’re still not happy with the money they’re making, they’ll start issuing speeding tickets to people who aren’t even speeding. In Baltimore, Maryland, they’ve generated over...

Here you'll be able to pay a ticket, view how your traffic violation took place, and find answers...

Court Reverses Red-Light Camera Conviction A court ruling that reversed a red-light camera conviction for a Los Angeles woman could have implications for drivers throughout California, including San Diego County, a local attorney said. Last month, the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles agreed with the woman’s argument that a Beverly Hills police officer who testified at her traffic court trial was unqualified to do so because he was not the one who monitored and calibrated the red-light camera that cited her. Instead, Annette Borzakian — an attorney who represented herself in the case — argued that...

The city of Houston will turn its red-light cameras back on today, Mayor Annise Parker announced after this morning’s City Council meeting. According to a statement from the mayor’s office, tickets will be issued after a “short period of equipment testing.”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- A Florida judge says red light tickets issued by police officers are unconstitutional because they impose more severe penalties than red light camera citations. Broward County Judge Fred Berman noted last week police write tickets for $260 when they observe a motorist blowing through a red light while $158 citations are issued to motorists caught by the red light cameras, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Berman said the police-issued tickets, which also impose points on driver's licenses, violate equal protection provisions in the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The ruling eliminated a ticket issued to a motorist...

Chairman Myron Lowery is the latest City Councilman to suggest a possible solution for the City’s budget woes. During Wednesday City Council meeting, Lowery proposed expanding the red light camera program to include speed enforcement. He says by equipping the cameras with radar guns, the city could make enough money from tickets to prevent a city tax hike and job cuts. Lowery has invited to Memphis a representative from American Traffic Solutions. The company operates the speed cameras and will meet with the council next Wednesday.

Bill Kroske, the vice president of business development at American Traffic Solutions, posed as a Spokane local on The Spokesman-Review website in an attempt to promote his company's productsA business executive at American Traffic Solutions has been suspended after posing as a local resident of Spokane on the company's website and newspaper websites, where he posted comments supporting the red-light camera's that were placed in the Washington city. American Traffic Solutions, which is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializes in photo enforcement and red-light camera contracting. The company has red-light cameras placed throughout the United States, with one of the cities...

Unless you are served personally (i.e., deputy hands you the summons), there is no penalty for ignoring red light camera tickets mailed to you or tacked to your door.

An anti-speed camera activist purchased the expired domain of the police department that issued his speeding ticket. A Gray, Tennessee computer network designer and anti-speed camera activist received a $90 speeding ticket in nearby Bluff City, and exacted his revenge by purchasing the offending police department's expiring web domain. Brian McCrary said that he received a letter in the mail from the Bluff City Police Department stating that a speed camera caught him driving 56 mph through a 45 mph zone on U.S. Highway 11E. The camera went active on January 1 and tracked 1,662 speeders during its first six...

The local government here (Apopka, FL) along with the state is really bothering me and I would like to do something about it. My premise is that red light cameras are rigged to create revenue , usually by shortening yellow lights. In addition the vast majority of tickets are for right on red violations where the car slows to one or two mph (or actually stops but for a very short interval so the camera system measures a speed , any speed for the one second interval it uses as a base for the speed computation). In my city they...

The proposition to do away with red light cameras in College Station passed by a margin of 52-48 percent.

8,261 tickets issued in less than a year. The red-light-camera program dates to 1996, but has not run continuously because of legal and contractual issues. The city now has 12 cameras online and is preparing to activate three more. In late 2007, the City Council approved the current three-year, $4.5 million contract with American Traffic Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., which installs and maintains the cameras and processes photos. “In both management and technology, this program has improved by leaps and bounds,” said San Diego police Sgt. Joe Bane... the cameras have generated more tickets than anticipated, and the extra money...

On a vote that was so close that Farmington Mayor William Standley had to cast the tie breaker, officials of the Four Corners community rejected installing red-light cameras ... There are three municipalities in the state that use or are planning to use red-light cameras to enforce traffic laws: Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe.