December 5 (RIA Novosti) Some New York City drivers who were fined $50 each when cameras recorded them running red lights at intersections are now turning the tables on the city, charging in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the lights are rigged to increase the number of tickets and fines the city collects.
“Once the green light at an intersection turns to yellow, you’re supposed to have one second for every ten miles of posted speed before it turns red, so at most of these intersections, three seconds is the bare minimum,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Joseph Santoli in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“In reality, you’ve got a lot less than that, and half a second may not sound like much, but it’s enough to make it pretty difficult to cross the intersection on time,” he added.
Santoli filed a class action suit Wednesday on behalf of three specific drivers – and also on behalf of others who have received roughly six million red-light tickets since 1998.
He wants the red-light camera program shut down.
The American Automobile Association (AAA), a national group of motor clubs that provides benefits to drivers, discovered the problem in October.
“We are in favor, in concept, of the red-light cameras, but they have to be done to certain engineering criteria,” said AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair in an interview with WCBS-TV.
“If you’re timing them too short, then it just becomes a revenue enhancement tool and it erodes support for the program,” he added.
City officials dispute the findings.
“There has been no substantiation that any red-light cameras in this report were improperly timed or led to any violation being issued incorrectly,” said the Department of Transportation in a statement, according to WCBS.
“People are almost universally angry about the situation,” said Santoli, who claims he’s heard from grandmothers, people who’ve never had any other tickets, and drivers from all walks of life.
The tickets have brought in an estimated $300 million in revenue for the city since the program began in 1998.
