The St. Louis Post-Dispatch got into the debate over red light cameras with a Sunday cover story about the difficulties that municipalities have if those who receive tickets don't just pay them voluntarily. The moral of the story seemed to be . . . if you get such a ticket, ignore it.St. Louis Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr., put it bluntly saying, that "if you threw [the ticket] in the trash, nothing would happen." Individuals are also reporting that lawyers are giving them legal advice to ignore tickets from red light cameras. Attorney Herman Jimerson is quoted saying that since the camera doesn't show the driver of the car, he's told his client that the municipalities can't prove that he violated the law. He suggested not paying the assessed fine.
The fact that these tickets are so unenforceable should have prevented them from going up in the first place. Now that the Post-Dispatch has picked up on it and basically told everyone in town to ignore the tickets without consequence maybe the trend will shift away from these cameras but I doubt it. They're too big of a moneymaker for municipalities and too many gullible folks are paying their tickets without a fight.
2 comments:
I think they turned the one at Brentwood and Manchester off. I drive through that intersection every day. When they first put it up, it was going off constantly. Haven't seen it flash at all in the last few weeks.
I think they turned the one at Brentwood and Manchester off. I drive through that intersection every day. When they first put it up, it was going off constantly. Haven't seen it flash at all in the last few weeks.
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