The state court says the city violates Ohio’s constitution by forcing red light camera appeals to be decided by a hearing officer the same way a parking ticket is challenged. State law says a red light ticket challenge should be handled by a municipal court just like a ticket from a police officer. Russ Rader is with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a red light camera proponent. He believes Cleveland could fix its problem by simply setting up a streamlined muny court process to handle red light violation appeals. But, Rader says giving red light camera citations the same weight as a parking ticket is a common practice.

“In most states red light camera citations are issued to vehicle owners and are treated as civil offenses rather that moving violations.  There are no driver’s license points assessed, there are no insurance implications, things like that. Where this Ohio case fits in the bigger picture, is that litigation surrounding red light cameras today usually turns on things like this, very narrow questions of how the municipal law fits with the state constitution.”  

Rader says federal constitutional challenges to red light cameras, like privacy issues, have all been decided in favor of the automated ticketing devices. It’s still not known if Cleveland will appeal this week’s ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court. The high court will hear a similar case out of Toledo.