Courts Not Yet Enforcing Camera Speeding Tickets

In a rather interesting article in today's Chicago Tribune, there is a report that courts are not enforcing tickets issued by van's equipped with cameras that record speeders and mail them tickets with photographs of their vehicle. So far this year, Cook County has not recorded a single conviction for any such traffic tickets issued. The Illinois Vehicle Code provides for hefty and painful penalties for motorist convicted of speeding in a work zone. The mandatory fine for speeding in a 45 m.p.h. work zone is $375, approximately $300 in court costs and a conviction that would remain on a motorists permanent driving record. This could cause a motorist's auto insurance premiums to be increased. So far this year, 814 such tickets have been issued in Cook County. 59.3% have been dismissed and the remainder have been reduced to regular speeding offenses. In 2007, 1,136 such tickets were issued and only 4.9% were convicted. In 2006, 1,528 such tickets were issued and only 4.8% were convicted. Cases get dismissed because the pictures are not clear enough to convict or police files do not come to court in time. Judge Walter Williams, the supervising traffic court judge, expressed suprise at the numbers and indicated that nobody had bought this to his attention.

Chicago motorists should anticipate that prosecutors and judges will make a greater effort to crack down on these tickets now that this article has been published and come to the public's attention.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

New Devices To Warn Drivers of Photo Enforcement Cameras

As has been previously discussed in this blog, there is a big push, locally and nationally, to increase the placement of cameras on our nations highways to enforce traffic laws and catch drivers in the act of committing traffic violations.  As a result, a new industry has sprung up involving devices that can warn drivers as they are approaching known traffic camera locations. An example of such a device is the Cheetah GPSMirror.  It's a snap on rear view mirror that is equipped with global positioning system (GPS) technology.  As the driver approaches a known traffic camera location, a female voice warns the driver that they are approaching a camera on the roadway. The device has a memory module that stores known traffic camera locations and users can frequently update the device by uploading updates.  For those that have access to the internet, a website has been developed, www.photoenforced.com, which allows drivers to check online for known traffic camera locations and submit new locations.

The City of Chicago currently has 110 red light cameras and plans to add 30 more by the end of the year.  Mayor Daley's long term goal is to install 200 more cameras by 2012.  At least 110 towns around Chicago either use traffic cameras, or plan on deploying cameras.  In the previous blog posting, we reported that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has announced an ambitious plan to drastically increase the number of cameras deployed throughout the state highway system.

The attorneys at Legal Defenders are committed to keeping the citizens of this state informed of this alarming increase in government authority so that we can all protect ourselves and be informed of what is in store for all of us.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com, or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Traffic Camera Citation Dismissed

Chicago criminal defense attorney, James Dimeas, succeeded in having a ticket issued by the Village of Rolling Meadows for failing to stop for a traffic light at an intersection where cameras were set up to record vehicles that failed to stop for the red light. Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, was representing an individual who received a traffic citation in the mail from the Village of Rolling Meadows containing a photograph of his client's vehicle at the intersection of Rohlwing Road and Kirchoff Road which purported to show the vehicle failing to stop at the red light. The ticket also contained a photograph of the license plate of the client's vehicle. Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, obtained a copy of the Village Ordinance. Article IV, entitled "Automated Traffic Law Enforcement System" contains all the requirements for issuing tickets by camera. Section 3-70(k) of the ordinance provides that "the date, time and place of the administrative hearing at which the charge may be contested on its merits, a date that shall be no less than 15 nor more than 40 days from the mailing or other service of the notice of violation." The violation date on the ticket was April 4, 2008. The hearing was being held on June 19, 2008. The date between the violation date and the hearing date far exceeded the 40 day time limit spelled out in the Village Ordinance. As a result, the Hearing Officer dismissed the citation for violating the time limits contained in the ordinance. In doing so, Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, exposed a serious flaw in the Village of Rolling Meadows Ordinance which will probably result in the Village of Rolling Meadows having to rewrite the ordinance. Most of the people who appeared before Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas's case was called had been issued citations around the same time as his client. However, Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, was the only one to raise this defense.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.