Newark Red Light Camera Ticket Dismissed; Technicality May Mean Millions In Refunds
NEWARK (KPIX 5) - A Bay Area woman who got caught running a red light beat her traffic ticket, and her case could mean thousands of other drivers may also be due refunds.
A red light camera recently snapped photos of Keisha Dunlevy allegedly blowing a red light in Newark. But last week, Dunlevy went to traffic court, and argued before a court commissioner that cameras at that intersection were never properly noticed to the public in the newspaper.
Dunlevy's evidence was a newspaper clipping of a public notice from when the cameras were first put in back in November of 2006.
It read, 'a camera has been installed at the intersection of Cedar Boulevard and Mowry Avenue to capture vehicles that run the red light as they travel east on both streets.'
The problem is, Cedar Boulevard runs north and south.
The traffic commissioner agreed and ruled that the "matter is dismissed due to inadequate notice," sparing her the $500 fine.
"I had a great judge. I did a lot of legwork. I'm really happy with the outcome," said Dunlevy.
Roger Jones, a red light camera activist, says Newark should refund all the collected fines. At 20,000 tickets over 6 1/2 years, by his math, that's about four to five million dollars.
"I do hope that this motivates other people to always check into their ticket," said Dunlevy, "not just take it because the officer said it was wrong."
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