Bellevue to Issue Tickets Via Speed Cameras
It appears that on Monday, October 5, 2009, Bellevue will join the growing ranks of Washington cities to use speed cameras in an effort to obtain revenue from unwitting motorists. Lake Forest Park began using the cameras earlier this year.
Bellevue alleges that the cameras are part of a "pilot project to improve traffic safety," according to the Seattle Times. Predictably, Bellevue stands to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. At least Bellevue might be fiscally safer!
Although these cameras will probably do nothing to improve safety, the cameras will have the effect of thousands of tickets being issued (and many if not all of them wrongly) to vehicle owners who receive tickets in the mail.
Here's how it works: You're dropping your child off at school, and a camera attached to a speed measuring device photographs your vehicle. The vehicle's owner (perhaps your spouse) gets a ticket in the mail. Actually, you might even get a few tickets in a day, because it will take time for you to realize that you've even been photographed, traveling, perhaps, 25 mph in a 20 mph zone.
Don't like speed cameras? Sponsor an initiative to ban them, or vote your elected officials out of office.
GOT ONE OF THESE IN RENTON ON 2ND AVE IN FRONT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL! A MAIN THOROUGHFARE! IS THERE ANY LITIGATION OUT THERE?! CAN I FIGHT THIS ON MY OWN WITH CURRENT CASE LAW ON MY SIDE? NO MONEY BUT SOME LEGAL SAVVY.
Mike, you CAN fight this on your own, but I know of no present case law on speed cameras in Washington State because the cameras are relatively new. Of course, cities in other states use speed cameras and as a result you might be able to introduce authority from other states - something attorneys call persuasive (as opposed to mandatory) authority.
I generally do not recommend that drivers hire traffic attorneys to fight red-light camera tickets as the infractions currently do not affect insurance premiums or a driver's record; however, ignoring any ticket can have negative consequences. Also, some employers have problems with employees who get camera tickets.