Cash grab or speed trap? RedSpeed cameras in school zones in Albany are a topic of debate.
More than 118,000 tickets totaling more than $4 million in fines have been issued in the past two years. Municipal Court is currently overburdened due to all those tickets.
Over 900 RedSpeed camera cases were heard in municipal court in 2022.
“I have no doubt that we will surpass that this year. probably double it,” said Municipal court administrator Barry Brooks.
Only the first two Thursdays of every month are designated for red-light camera court.
“It’s not as if I get a ticket today and it shows up on my court date for the following month. We’re still maybe a month, two months out before somebody can come in and dispute it,” he said.
Additionally, people’s failure to receive court notices has been a source of complaints. According to Brooks, the RedSpeed Camera company handles that on its own. He asserted that he had brought the company’s attention to these worries and could make the relevant parties a promise.
“The chance to appear before a civil hearing will be given to them. I just can’t make any guarantees of the timing,” he said.
Regardless of the timing, if they don’t contest the speeding ticket, you might have to deal with a car registration hold.
Similar worries were raised by some ticket contestants in court.
“I wasn’t able to see the flashing light or even the posted speed limit at that time,” One man said.
However, the cameras don’t only work when the flashing lights are on or when classes are in session. They are open one hour prior to the posted start time of school and one hour following its conclusion. According to state law, that is.
“These citations appeared as intended. It’s just a matter of the person understanding that it applies through that entire school day,” Brooks said.
Between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. is when the typical school zone time ends. At 4:30 p.m., school zones close for the day. near Monroe High School, where dismissal is delayed. When school is not in session, the cameras are never on, according to Albany Police Chief Michael Persley.
“If anyone says they got a violation at night time or they got a violation during the weekend, we ask that you bring us that citation to show us the proof that it was recorded because it doesn’t even record violations during times outside the school zone times,” Chief of police for Albany, Michael Persley, said.
New offenders were issued a warning back in RedSpeed Camera Court. To assess the human element of the citation, Brooks urged everyone to appear in court.
“It’s best to go ahead and take care of it as early in (the) process as possible but at some point, you’re going to have to take care of it,” Brooks said.
Read More: Do Security Cameras Have Audio?
Source: walb
