29 Oct FL Red Light Cameras in Jeopardy

Blame it on the sun glare. A slew of lawyer activity in the Sunshine State has led to what may be the beginning of the end of those sneaky red light cameras there. First the Supreme Court didn’t like a particular hearing method, then the Legislature fixed that and now an appeals court says it’s still no good. Why? Because the outside company that puts in the cameras effectively decides who gets a $150 ticket for going through a red light and getting caught on camera. Says court: only law enforcement folks can do that.

As a libertarian-ish person, I have had an issue with the ticket burdening the owner of the car regardless of whether they are driving at the time. Moving violations and such should be put on the driver in my humble opinion. I know the cameras help encourage safety. But everything has to be a balance as against personal freedoms.

Now the state is considering stopping all the cameras until the litigation is all resolved, because several class actions have already been filed to retrieve back fees that people have been paying all these years if the cameras and process are deemed illegal. Imagine if this spread to other states. I would get some dough back (and I wasn’t even driving, well not most of the time anyway)!