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Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

Your Red Light Ticket Could Be Null And Void Soon

Reporting
Carol Cavazos

DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―

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A judge recently ruled against one of the largest red light camera companies operating in Texas. The ruling could mean recent red light tickets could be thrown out. Those who paid for their tickets already might be able to get their money back.

Red light cameras have captured drivers in Dallas since December of 2006.

"You get this cute little picture of the back of your car with the license plate with a notice that you owe the City of Dallas money," said Attorney Lloyd Ward.

When Ward received a ticket from the city four months into the "Safe Light" program, it made him "extremely irritated."

But Ward is an attorney, so he contested and refused to pay the $75 fine. Then ACS - the company who took the picture - said it would report him to the credit bureau.

Ward looked into the city's agreement with ACS and discovered ACS had their own violations.

"You can not illegally obtain evidence for use in prosecution in any government body," he said.

Through city documents, Ward discovered ACS had a business license, but not an occupational license.

ACS collects pictures and information for prosecution. That falls under the category of private investigator. A license is needed for that kind of work.

Ward certainly knows about licenses; he has nine for his law practice. He thinks ACS should have had one for their private investigations. So he took the case before a state district judge.

"Judge Smith, in the 192nd, issued a ruling that they were in violation of the Texas Occupation Code for operating without a license," Ward said.

He also found two other red light camera companies operating without occupational licenses: ATS, which operates cameras in Arlington, and Redflex, which operates in Plano and Duncanville. Both are headquartered in Arizona.

"Since they want to live on the technicalities, they get to die on the technicalities," Ward said.

Ward continued his fight, filing federal class action lawsuits against the two Arizona companies.

"The money they have been kind enough to remove from the pockets of the citizens of this state, I think they should bring it back into this state and put it back into our coffers," said Ward.

Those lawsuits could put the breaks on red light cameras across the state.

A jury will decide damages against ACS. Officials there had no comment.

CBS11TV.com Extra: Raw Police Chase Video

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