Motorists are challenging red light camera ordinances in South Dakota and Chicago, Illinois.

On Friday, Bloomingdale, Illinois resident Parveen Idris filed a suit against Chicago claiming the automated ticketing system was, "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable in that the ordinance makes irrelevant whether the penalized party actually violated a red traffic signal." Idris had been billed $90 for running a red light in January, even though he was out of the country at the time.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota resident I. L. Wiedermann is mounting a similar challenge to his city's camera program. Wiedermann also argues that the devices deny due process to ticket recipients. A circuit court refused to hear his case yesterday and Wiedermann will be forced to file it as a class action lawsuit. To date, the program has raised $1.4 million in revenue for the city of 144,000.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals struck down a Minneapolis red light camera program last month, and two Ohio judges canceled automated enforcement in Girard and Steubenville earlier this year.