Drivers Get Out Of Red Light Camera Tickets

A driver in Palm Bay challenged the city's new red-light cameras and not only won, but ended up getting more than two dozen other tickets thrown out, too. Now, the city is changing its ordinance to try to keep hundreds more tickets from being dismissed.

It was a legal loophole that has the city scrambling. The city ordinance says the citations have to have the make model and year of the car involved, but the tickets only have the make on them and that has given other drivers hope their tickets will be tossed, too.

“They mailed it to me. I was surprised,” Manuel Quiles said.

Quiles just got a ticket for not coming to a complete stop while making a right hand turn. He's one of more than 2,200 drivers who have received citations since the city of Palm Bay installed red light cameras. But now he's hoping he, too, can get out of the $125 fine.

“I'd like to find out how I can beat the ticket myself,” Quiles said.

A special magistrate, who oversees challenges to red-light tickets in Palm Bay, threw out a ticket when a lawyer challenged the citation. The city's ordinance requires the citation include the make model and year of the car that runs the light, but the private company the city uses to process the tickets only has access to a database with the make of the car.

The special magistrate ruled the city was obligated to provide the information on the ticket, but didn't. Nearly 30 drivers waiting to challenge their tickets did the same and won. The city council has started changing the ordinance so it matches the tickets.

The city manager said it should stop a rush of drivers from trying to get out of their tickets.

“This ordinance is retroactive to when the program started,” Palm Bay City Manager Lee Feldman said.

Several lawyers WFTV talked to questioned whether the city council could pass an ordinance that's retroactive or whether all tickets would have to be thrown out until the law is changed.

Quiles said he may fight his.

“Maybe I can do the same,” he said.

The city manager said the reason this occurred was because the law allowing red light cameras was passed in 2008, years before the vendor first started putting the cameras up. By the way, city employees are not immune; two have already been caught by cameras.