Officials and advocates who want to erect speeding cameras along Highway
395 East of the Sierras are keeping a close eye on a case that is currently
before the Iowa Supreme Court.
It is almost unheard of for a small claims court case to go all the way to the Supreme Court, but that is what happened to 65-year-old Marla Leaf’s $75 speeding ticket. A camera clocked her doing 68mph in a 55mph zone, but she insists that she was only travelling between 50-55mph due to icy conditions. Court watchers are unsure why this case caught the Justices’ eyes, but speeding cameras in the Hawkeye State are no stranger to court battles. Two years ago, the Iowa Department of Transportation ordered Cedar Rapids to turn off its cameras because they were too close to speed limit change signs. The city sued, and that case is still winding its way through the courts.
Cameras in Cedar Rapids, where Ms. Leaf is from, have issued over 90,000 citations and generated millions for the city and camera vendor GATSO USA.
Speeding Cameras
Under current law, speeding cameras are illegal speed traps under VC 40802(1). This provision prohibits any device that calculates vehicle speed based upon the amount of time it takes to pass from Point A to Point B. But red light cameras were illegal too until the Legislature changed the Vehicle Code, and there is no reason they cannot do so again.
When speeding cameras come to Kings County, and money-hungry Sacramento is looking at all the options, the Legislature will probably model the procedure on existing laws, which is why we are keeping a close eye on cases in other states. If these is one thing that all the years of practice has taught us, it’s that effective defenses can come from anywhere.