3 On Your Side: Red Light Camera Citation Problem
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Red light runners beware, all across our region cameras are watching you. The number of towns and cities installing red light cameras are on the rise, but they aren't without issues, as we found when a local woman contacted 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan for help.
The red light camera at the intersection of Sicklerville Road and the Black Horse Pike has been fully operational only for a few weeks. Even so, drivers are racking up fines.
Lisa Wilson got a citation in the mail for running a red light at that intersection. The fine? $85. But there was one problem, it wasn't her car. The license plates are similar but one digit was different.
Lisa's license plate includes the number 6. But the camera caught a car that appeared to have the number 8 on the plate. Also, Lisa says, "My car is a bright greenish-blue color and this car is black, so it's definitely not my car."
Lisa thought it would be easy to get the citation dismissed. But when she tried to explain the discrepancies in several phone messages left for a lieutenant at the Monroe Township Police Department, he replied saying that he believed it still looked like her tag.
She says, "I would have to go to court no matter what." She added, "I would had to take off a 12 hour day from work just to go in and get this all taken care of."
When Lisa contacted 3 On Your Side for help, we reached out to Acting Chief of Police, Joe Smart. He told us that the red light camera is new to the department and that policies and procedures are still evolving.
According to Smart, the license plate photos captured by the red light camera were reviewed by an officer when Lisa first contacted the department.
Smart says, "The lieutenant did what the policy was in place at the time."
But a second review was done at 3 On Your Side's request, which also took into account the color of the car.
Smart says, "We took a closer at it, she sent us an email of her car and we acknowledged the fact that yes indeed that is was a different vehicle in that picture."
As a result, Smart recommended the citation be dismissed, making it another 3 On Your Side problem solved.
Chief Smart tells 3 On Your Side that only a judge can dismiss a red light camera ticket in Monroe Township. The judge did that after Smart reviewed the red light camera photos himself and recommended dismissal. The chief says that an additional review process has now been put in place so that disputing a ticket like this one, will be less difficult in the future.
Reported By Jim Donovan, CBS 3
