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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Drivers to sue NYC over red-light cam tickets


The city’s red-light camera program is nothing short of highway robbery, a lawsuit will claim.

Three motorists who were slapped with $50 red-light camera tickets are filing a class-action suit against the city, arguing that they were nabbed by too-short yellow lights, The Post has learned.

The motorists want the city to refund every improperly imposed fine, said lawyer Joseph Santoli.

The suit will be filed tomorrow in Manhattan Supreme Court, he said.

“We want the red-light camera program shut down,” Santoli said of the cameras, which are responsible for more than 6 million tickets since 1998.

Countless drivers should never have been ticketed because some intersections with cameras have yellow lights that last shorter than three seconds, which is required under federal guidelines, the suit says.

The suit cites an AAA study, first reported in The Post in October, that found four red-light camera intersections that had yellow lights that lasted only 2.53 to 2.84 seconds.

The city disputes the findings.

Richard Marks, one of the plaintiff, claims that he had to slam on his brakes to avoid going through a red light that changed very quickly from yellow in 2010.

He still got a ticket because his car was one foot inside the intersection of Richmond and West Caswell avenues on Staten Island.
 

 

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