Maryland Company Reveals Innocent Drivers Receive Traffic Tickets
In a recent bit of disturbing news, a leading speed camera operator in Baltimore, Maryland admitted that the technology is known to occasionally produce inaccurate results. Not only did the company admit its speed cameras were sometimes wrong, but it said that human error allowed the false readings to get through the system, sending tickets to innocent drivers across the state.
After a recent outcry by local politicians, Xerox, which recently bought speed camera operator Affiliated Computer Systems, conducted an internal investigation into its photo enforced speed systems throughout the state. The results were shocking and admitted that in some cases errors can occur. The company revealed that issues such as radar reflection and refraction can skew speed data, leading to false results. Five specific locations were identified as having speed cameras with an unusually high incidence of radar error.
The company said that after reviewing thousands of citations, it determined that radar errors that were not caught during the normal review process were seen in 5.2 percent of cases. This is a big deal given that last year alone some 904,587 tickets were issued from red light and speed cameras worth an estimated $36 million.
Companies in other cities and states have run into similar trouble with faulty machinery. One city in Canada recently had to cancel $17 million worth of traffic tickets after it was revealed the system it was using had been issuing bogus tickets for at least two years.
The supposed benefit to these traffic cameras is that the machines are never wrong. This recent revelation should cast doubt on that idea. We can only hope that elected officials in Maryland take action to ensure other innocent citizens are not wrongly ticketed in the future.
Need help with a Maryland traffic ticket? Call me at 301-563-9575 or 1-877-566-2408 for a free consultation. I’m an experienced Maryland traffic ticket lawyer and I’d be happy to help. I practice traffic law throughout the entire State of Maryland.
