Caught by a red-light camera? Some argue the citations are illegal and you don't have to pay them
Red light traffic cameras are designed to reduce serious crashes. Cities usually install them at intersections with high crash rates, especially those with extremely dangerous T-bone crashes.
Despite research showing they do have an impact, the remote enforcement tool remains under fire.
"I believe they’re unconstitutional," said attorney and former state lawmaker Paul Stam, when asked about the citations mailed to vehicle owners whose cars are caught by a camera.
Stam has a long history of fighting red-light cameras in court.
"They trap innocent people," he argues.
Cary physicist Brian Ceccarelli is no stranger to fighting red-light camera citations.
"About 99% of these things are wrongly issued," he told WRAL Investigates
WRAL Investigates first met Ceccarelli in 2010 when he sued the town of Cary because he argued yellow lights ran too short for safe stopping.
"By cutting short the yellow light, the town of Cary risks everybody”s life," he told us back then.
Cary eventually scrapped its red-light cameras, but years later, Ceccarelli is still on a mission with his website Red Light Robber.
Under state law, 19 cities and towns across the North Carolina, as well as any municipality in Union County, can have red light camera programs. Because of lawsuits or logistics of running the program, only four cities still have them: Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Greenville.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently ruled Greenville violated its promise to pay schools 90% of red-light citation revenue.
"In Greenville, it’s only 70%. That’s unconstitutional," Stam said.
He said there is also a problem with citation payments in Wilmington, which could lead to another legal battle.
"It felt like I got trapped somehow," Wilmington driver Todd Platzer told us in a virtual interview.
Platzer is poised to sue the city of Wilmington over an old red-light citation based on too short yellow lights and too little revenue going to schools.
The fines in the four cities that have red-light cameras range from $50 to $100 per citation, but there’s a growing debate over the obligation to pay.
"Well, I don’t believe it’s a legal debt," Platzer said. "I believe it’s just someone sending you a ticket in the mail because you did something they didn’t like."
For whatever reason, not a lot of people are paying their fines. Through a public records request, WRAL Investigates found over the past three years, Raleigh sent out more than 96,000 citations. 65,000- about 68%- are unpaid. In Fayetteville, 94,000 citations during that same time span were mailed. Some 38% are unpaid.
"You don’t have to do it," said Ceccarelli about paying the fines. "There’s no repercussion, nothing. They won’t hit your credit record. They’re not going to revoke your drivers license."
His Red Light Robber website includes public postings from people who never paid and never heard a word. Others claim the tickets were sent to collections, but the drivers had money-owed removed from their credit reports.
State law reads, "The municipality may establish procedures for the collection of these penalties and may enforce the penalties by civil action in the nature of debt."
Both Raleigh and Fayetteville said unpaid citations are sent to collections on a periodic basis, but appears the collections never reach the courts. In Raleigh, we found no record of the city’s red-light contractor or its collection agency filing "money owed" orders in civil court.
WRAL Investigates asked Raleigh about the program and the unpaid citation rate.
In a statement, Michael Moore, the director of Raleigh’s Transportation Department didn’t address that.
However, he said, "The city of Raleigh has a number of red-light cameras at intersections with a history of crashes related to red light running. The camera program is an important safety improvement and is a proven tool in reducing crashes and helping to keep people safe."
"I would pay just because I pay parking tickets," Stam said if he was caught running a red light. "I was a politician. Somebody could use that against me if I didn’t. Could they collect it if I didn’t pay? Probably not."
By no means do Stam or Ceccarelli advocate blowing through red lights. It’s dangerous whether yellow lights are too short or not. They just believe remote camera enforcement with questionable collection falls short of protecting the public.
