Are Red Light Cameras Legal In Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Late final calendar week, Federal appeals judges ruled that a lawsuit over the use of ruddy calorie-free cameras in Alabama can move ahead in state courtroom. The metropolis of Montgomery and American Traffic Solutions, Inc. were commencement named in a class action suit back in 2015 that claims the use of reddish light cameras by the city is illegal. Attorneys are demanding that the program exist suspended and that those who have been fined through the use of cameras receive a refund.

21 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands take laws specifically legalizing the use of red light cameras. 10 states prohibit their utilise, and 19 states — including Alabama — have no law on the bailiwick.

Montgomery and Tuscaloosa were given permission past the legislature to use the cameras on 2010. A like try to prohibit red light cameras' use in Tuscaloosa was unsuccessful in 2015. Tuscaloosa attorney Stuart Albea challenged their utilise on constitutional grounds, stating that municipalities fining those caught by the cameras accept circumvented proper due process.

In upholding Tuscaloosa's police force, Canton Circuit Court Gauge John England wrote that the cameras are permissible because the owners of a vehicle are subject only to fines, not abort. "The tickets don't go on the vehicle owner's criminal record," he said, "and no negative points are assessed to the owner's commuter's license."

Opponents of the technology also argue that the purpose of the devices is not to promote public safety but to boost local regime acquirement. Equally of 2016, Florida's statewide law has increased revenue from traffic violations by over $100 million, giving cities a fiscal incentive to continue the program. The Tuscaloosa News reports at that place were 3,574 tickets issued between Jan and June 2015 and 5,198 during all of 2014 from the nine monitored intersections.