Seattle Red Light Camera Issuing Illegal Tickets
According to King 5 News, red light camera tickets generated at a high-traffic intersection are being thrown out in court by local judges because the tickets are illegal:
Traffic judges have declared the camera set-up illegal at a busy intersection near the University of Washington and they’ve tossed tickets out, but the city is still ticketing unsuspecting motorists.
NE 45th Street at Union Bay Place NE is not your typical intersection. [...]
The five-way intersection has a dizzying configuration of lights and signs and turn lanes. And towering over it all are camera systems on the lookout for red-light runners.
Recently they recorded video of an eastbound car on NE 45th Street. It clearly shows the car cruising through the intersection after the light turned red. The driver got a costly ticket for $124 in the mail.
But on Monday Seattle traffic judge Francis deVilla dismissed the infraction.
He didn’t respond to the KING 5 Investigators’ repeated requests for an explanation.
But the City Attorney’s Office says it was just informed deVilla ruled that the camera system is illegal at the intersection. The judge apparently based that decision on state law which says cameras are restricted to intersections where two arterial roads meet – your typical four-way stop.
But then, NE 45th Street at Union Bay is a five-way intersection.
Chris Ingalls, the King 5 News reporter who wrote the story, asks some interesting questions about the city’s actions:
At $124 a ticket, this could be potentially be a million-dollar intersection for the city since it installed cameras there a year and a half ago.
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We’ve learned legal questions were raised months ago in a lawsuit now being heard in federal court.
And the City Attorney’s Office acknowledges that Seattle traffic judge Adam Eisenberg dismissed at least one ticket at the same intersection.
So why does the city continue to issue tickets and fines at a controversial intersection?
The City Attorney’s Office believes the intersection is legal and says it will likely fight all these challenges.
Meantime, the city continues to write an average of 16 tickets a day at that one intersection.
Red light camera programs in Washington are already under fire for charging more for tickets than is permissable under state law. There are currently at least two bills pending in the legislature that would reduce ticket camera fines:
- Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, is the sponsor of a bill (HB2780) that would cap fines at $25 and mandate longer yellow light times.
- Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, has offered a similar bill (SB6410) to cap fines at $42.
With all this controversy, perhaps it’s time for Washington to join the 15 states who have banned automated ticketing instead?
Welcome to the NMA.
Did you get a chance to view the video at the hyperlink.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Judge Francis deVilla is not the same person as Judge Adam Eisenberg.
Good thing that you are not a judge. Two arterial roads intersect at right angles, there is only one right angle among the five legs.
No, it isn't the judge(s) that needs to go. The people of Seattle need to fire many people in the City Attorney's Office.
There was no explanation why Adam Eisenberg dismissed a ticket. Is it reaons enough to say an intersection is illegal if a ticket is dismissed at a particular intersection for who knows what reason? Also since you are so stupid and have limited driving, I have been through or at many intersections where roads cross and they were not at right angles and more like 45 deg angles. I seen nothing in the law as stated that the roads had to be at 90 deg angles. George it is just a good thing you were not a judge or you would let every law breaker go. A judge is not supposed to create law but interpret and enforce the law. It is obvious that the judge did not interpret the law correctly or he would not have let a dangerous driver go without any punishment.
You should have watched the video, an aerial picture of the intersection was provided.
When civil engineering is taught, the more volume that a road is intended to handle, the simpler the interaction with other roads, and with road users. (that means you do right angle junctions, and clear unambiguous signage)
If I were a judge, I could only uphold just laws (got ethics/morality?). If the legislature can not produce just [and lawful] law, then I could not uphold and apply said law upon the citizenry.
Same concept as jury nullification.
Insults and ad hominem will get you nowhere.
I think you missed out on how government is supposed to work. The people elect their representation for the legislative branch which codifies the law, the executive branch carries out the functions of government according to the rules of the legislature, and the judicial branch is supposed to 'quality control', to see if the laws are unlawful/unconstitutional, or if the executive branch is misinterpreting the will of people by incorrectly executing the laws.
This is supposed to be a reiterative process, strike/remove the incorrect law replace with good law.
Heard of checks and balances.
Is NMA ever going to print a truthfull article? First in their headlines they say that judges have thrown out tickets and then later in the article they tell how one judge threw out a ticket and only one judge and only one ticket. They could not find something bad enough in the truth so they make things up to make it sound worse. Given the description of the law I would have found the person guilty. After all, more than one roadway was at an intersection. That is what the law said it needed to be guilty. It did not say anything about throwing out tickets if there are more than two roads crossing. It is such a judge that we need to get rid of and make them get a real job.