When An Irresistible Force Meets The Immovable Object: Baltimore Lawyer Challenges Speed Camera Ticket For Non-Moving Car

The Baltimore Police force may be irresistible but it may have met the immovable object in lawyer Daniel Doty. Doty was a bit surprised when he received a $40 speed camera ticket for going 38 mph in a 25-mph zone. The problem is that Doty was not moving at all, as the picture clearly showed. The case highlights objections around country as cities increasingly rely on speed cameras for revenue and, reportedly, have been tolerating cameras with skewed pro-ticket settings.

Doty’s four-door Mazda wagon was shown idling at a red light in two pictures with his red brake lights on. A video shows the car motionless but the camera registering a speeding car on April 24 in Northeast Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun has done a series on at least seven camera found to be producing false readings.

The city’s speed camera contractor, Xerox State and Local Solutions, insists that there are two layers of review of every ticket in its company and then a Baltimore police officer reviews the citation before approving it for issuance to the vehicle owner. The officer swears or affirms that the car was going at least 12 mph over the speed limit “based on inspection of the recorded images.”

Obviously, these reviews are perfunctory and meaningless if this case is any measure.

The city has 83 speed cameras and 81 red light cameras.

Source: Baltimore Sun