6/26/2010
Florida, Australia, Scotland: Accuracy, Legal Problems With Speed CamerasSpeed cameras use unlawful speed limits and issue tickets to innocent owners in Florida, Australia and Scotland.
American Traffic Solutions, the private vendor that operates the red light camera program in North Miami Beach, Florida accused Susan White of Troy, New York of running a red light on May 20 at 4:32pm. White was at work thousands of miles away at the time. The company demanded $125, even though the ticket clearly was not hers. The license plate in the citation photograph was blurry, showing something like BCH, but could have been 5CN. The dark Chevy that apparently ran the light looked nothing like the light-colored Kia Soul that White owns, the Albany Times Union newspaper reported.
In Sydney, Australia officials were forced to refund 380 bogus speed camera tickets, the Daily Telegraph reported. Between May 23 and June 11 the camera on Kingsway at Miranda applied lowered school zone speed limits at times when the limits did not apply. Refunds amount to about $49,000. Earlier this year a Sydney camera with a faulty sensor forced the refund of 900 tickets.
Motorists in Northern Territory, Australia are complaining about a double-jeopardy speed trap. In the city of Darwin, a mobile speed camera car is being parked just fifty yards from a fixed photo enforcement camera at the intersection of Stuart Highway and Westralia Street. A police employee puts the mobile camera ticket in the mail, while Redflex handles the intersection camera citations, Northern Territory News reported. The speed limit at the location was lowered three years ago to boost revenue.
Speed camera tickets imposed on one Scottish road may be invalid. A justice of the peace ruled June 15 that the temporary 40 MPH speed limit imposed on the A80 from Glasgow to Stirling Road on February 18 was invalid. Authorities failed to file the proper documentation in time, violating the 1992 Road Traffic Regulations, the Sun reported.