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The Great Traffic Camera Ripoff

Having taxed their citizens almost to the point of revolt, local governments are using a new scheme to pick people's pockets - Automated Traffic Cameras!  These spy cameras snap photos of cars on public highways, decide if the drivers are speeding or going through red lights, and send traffic tickets in the mail to the vehicles' registered owners. 

Cities around the world are making millions, and the companies who install and run these systems -- based mostly in Europe and Australia -- get a piece of the action. And the epidemic has now spread all over the U.S.

Trouble is, these camera systems are notoriously inaccurate.  Some have recorded the speed of buildings that are supposedly moving. Some cities have illegally shortened yellow light durations at intersections to boost more red light violations.  Studies have shown that the cameras don't reduce accidents. But it's not about safety, it's about money ... because the more violations, the bigger the profits.

Drivers are presumed guilty on the basis of the photos alone, with little or no chance of beating the tickets in court.  In fact, sometimes there is no court at all, but a "hearing officer" hired by the city whose decision is final and from which you have no right of appeal.  Due process? Not!

►TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GREAT TRAFFIC CAMERA RIPOFF, CLICK HERE.

Steubenville, Ohio, Jumps on the Bandwagon   

In 2005, officials in Steubenville, Ohio, (population 19,000) entered into a contract with Traffipax, Inc., to install and run automated speed cameras.  Traffipax is based in Maryland but is owned by a large German company.  For each $85 speeding ticket collected, Traffipax would get $36.  Starting with just two portable radar cameras, they managed to mail out over 7,000 tickets and collect over $250,000 in fines during the first two months of operation.  That's when Gary Stern got a judge to shut them down.

In November of 2005, Gary's wife April received two speeding tickets in the mail for violations that had supposedly occurred at least three weeks earlier.  Another family member had been the driver, but since April was the registered owner of the vehicle, she got the citations. That's when Gary started doing some legal research.

Six days later, Gary filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of April and all other drivers who had received tickets. Click here to read the Complaint. Here's what happened next:  

  • December 5, 2005, after hearing testimony and legal arguments, Judge David E. Henderson granted a preliminary injunction against the City of Steubenville which temporarily prohibited the City from enforcing the speed camera ordinance pending the final hearing.
  • March 15, 2006: After hearing final testimony, Judge Henderson invalidated all speeding citations that had been issued to date. He based his ruling on a finding that the City and Traffipax failed to comply with mandatory notice requirements contained in the City's own ordinance.  (He declined, however, to rule on the constitutionality of the speed cameras.) He ruled that people who received tickets and didn't pay them did not have to pay them. He ordered the City to issue a refund to everyone who had already paid.
  • August of 2006: Steubenville mailed out over 2,700 refund checks, totaling more than $258,000. 

The City Tries the Cam Scam Again ... But the People Are Ready!

City Council and Traffipax still had visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads, so in June of 2006, they enacted another traffic camera ordinance. This time they eliminated all the requirements that Judge Henderson found they had failed to comply with the first time.  Their way. apparently, of saying "Screw you" to the judge and the driving public.

But unlike the City's first sneak attack, this time people were watching. Gary Stern assisted a group of unpaid volunteers, spearheaded by local businessman Gary Kessler, to circulate referendum petitions throughout the city in order to place the new camera law on the November ballot.  The result? 

More than 76% of the voters said NO to traffic cameras.  So Traffipax finally picked up their cameras and left town...but they didn't go home. They're still out there, peddling their system to other cash-strapped cities and towns.  Maybe even a town near you.

BACKGROUND and GENERAL INFORMATION (FAQ)

On November 23, 2005, Gary Stern filed a CLASS ACTION lawsuit in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court against the City of Steubenville seeking the following relief:

  • A declaratory judgment that the law which authorized the placing of automated speed cameras is invalid...
  • An injunction preventing the City from attempting any further enforcement of this law...
  • Reimbursement for all those who have already paid a citation.

    • What is a Class Action?

  • The plaintiff in this case is Gary Stern's wife, April Stern, who received two speeding citations because she was the registered owner of a vehicle photographed by the automated cameras. (She was not the driver.) She is also suing as a representative of all persons (the "Class") who received similar citations. This is known as a CLASS ACTION.

    • Is the Speeding Ticket a Criminal Offense?

  • No, Steubenville's speed camera ordinance does not charge a criminal offense, it only provides for civil enforcement. No points on your driver's license, no warrants for your arrest, no jail if you don't pay. Just a civil fine that will be turned over to a collection agency. That's how the out-of-state outfit that sold this scheme to the city hopes to avoid many of the constitutional protections that apply in criminal cases. But the constitution still applies in civil cases, even though the city officials who passed this ordinance seem to have forgotten that.

    • How Do You Join the Class Action?

  • Because the judge decided that the case qualifies as a class action, you are automatically a member of the class. You don't have to sign up. The decision invalidating the speeding tickets applies to everyone. If you have already paid your ticket, you may be given notice -- usually by publication or by mail or however the court decides -- that you have the right to "OPT OUT" of the class if you so wish. If you decide to opt out, you won't be bound by any rulings ordering a refund, and you may pursue your own legal remedies -- or do nothing.

Click Here to Read the Ordinance

Click Here to Read the Complaint

Click here to read the Brief.