Rep. Dale Mallory (D-OH): Traffic enforcement cameras violate due process rights

[Redfairen]

The following is an editorial appearing in today's Cleveland Plain-Dealer and written by Dale Mallory, a Cincinnati Democrat in the Ohio State House.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/01/traffic_enforcement_cameras_vi.html#incart_river_default

I firmly believe that red light cameras and speeding cameras are unnecessary and have failed the public. Originally instituted as a part of a “public safety initiative,” the traffic camera system has proven to be nothing more than a revenue-generating scheme designed to rob Ohioans of their living and violates the most basic fundamental rights of their due process.

That is why I have helped introduce House Bill 69 during the 130th Ohio General Assembly. HB 69 is a bipartisan piece of legislation that would prohibit the use of unmanned photo-monitoring devices by municipal corporations, counties, townships, and the State Highway Patrol. The “red light camera bill” will prevent the aforementioned entities from ticketing vehicles for traffic light and speed limit violations through picture or video.

Let me further elaborate:

Opponents of HB 69 often cite public safety as the driving force behind the use of red light and speeding cameras. I disagree. It has become apparent that localities use those cameras to fill budgetary gaps at the expense of hard-working individuals. For example, a traffic camera was strategically placed near an engineering plant in Cincinnati where it excessively ticketed workers who were trying to find a place to park. Is that justice? Is that fairness? Is that even public safety? No. It is the latent targeting of innocent individuals. That is completely unacceptable.

In addition, I believe that the red light and speeding cameras violate the concepts that have formed the legal foundations of western jurisprudence; namely the notion that you are innocent until proven guilty. Regulation cannot address the fundamental due process concerns nor justify the continuation of this program.

As Cincinnati-area Judge Ruehlman—who opposed red light and speeding cameras in a court case in Elmwood, Ohio earlier this year— said, it is a “high-tech game of 3 card Monte” and a “scam that motorist can’t win.”

[leftyohiolib]

1. how does this happen 'it excessively ticketed workers who were trying to find a place to park'

[Renew Deal]

2. Baltimore's speed trap cameras are wrong 10 percent of the time

Baltimore resident Daniel Doty was recently booked by a speeding camera for going 38mph in a 25mph zone. Doty might not have fought the ticket, but his car was standing still at the time he received it.

The Baltimore Sun obtained data from a secret audit conducted by the city that revealed that Doty's is likely one of thousands issued erroneous speeding tickets by the city's cameras. The audit, which was conducted by consultant group URS Corp, concluded that the error rate was more than 10 percent for the city's speed cameras, costing residents $2.8 million in tickets. One camera URS audited turned out more errors than correct citations.

The results of the audit were kept secret by the city, which had previously claimed that camera error rates were as low as one-quarter of a percent. The irony of the situation is that Maryland has historically been the backdrop for a lot of speed camera controversy. The state was an early pioneer for automated ticketing systems in the US, which were billed as a simple, automatic, and reliable revenue streams for states. Baltimore's 83 speed cameras have since been taken offline and the $2.8 million in tickets has been refunded, but this week's audit results could signal a larger problem with the system as a whole.
<snip>

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/24/5341578/baltimores-speed-cameras-audit-wrong-10-percent-of-the-time-urs-corp-xerox

[brewens]

3. We don't have those in my area and I don't go around charging yellow lights but

while driving normally, there are incidents where I could get ticked from one of those. Driving the blood center bus I'm careful approaching a light if it's been green for some time. I know it's going to turn yellow then red any second. But what do you do? Be so cautious to make sure you never are in an intersection when it turns red that you are constantly slowing way down and holding up traffic?

You really never know. In a bus like that, if you get close enough you are committed and then the light turns yellow. It's really not good to stand on the brakes and try and stop by then. I have the crew as passengers and it's also likely to leave me stopping over the stop line. Then you sometimes get the quick yellow and there's always the real short green that catches you by surprise. It's easy to get screwed by the light cameras I'm sure.

There are assholes that charge every yellow light, as if caution really means STAND ON THE GAS! If you're smart, you always are looking carefully entering and intersection because of those idiots.

[Jenoch]

4. Minneapolis installed red light cameras about ten years ago.

They issued mailed citations to the owner of the vehicle. In 2007 the courts ruled the operation unconstitutional (due process) because the cameras only got a photo of the license plate and not a photo of the driver. Minneapolis had to refund millions of dollars.

[dballance]

5. Don't forget shortened yellow lights are common...

I'm certain I read that some places that use these have also shortened their yellow lights to get more revenue ostensibly.