Lawyer Beats Red-Light Camera Ticket, Shows ‘Red’ Can Mean ‘Green’
A Portland, Ore., lawyer whose practice focuses on bicycle law has turned his attention to an auto case—his own—and managed to beat a red-light ticket.
Mark Ginsberg was surprised when he got a red-light ticket because he was sure the light had been green when he went through the intersection, the Oregonian reports. A photo included with the ticket suggested otherwise: It showed him in the middle of the intersection, with the word “red” stamped digitally at the top to indicate the light was red.
It turns out that the word “red” is sometimes stamped on photos taken when the light is green, based on a calculation that a car was traveling fast enough to enter the intersection before the light changed from red to green.
When Ginsberg delved deeper, he learned the light had been red for 24.9 seconds when he approached the intersection, and red lights last only 25 seconds in the city, the story says. A code on a second photo shows Ginsberg was traveling 15 miles an hour, too slow to make it into the intersection in a tenth of a second while the light was still red.
After Ginsberg presented his evidence, the city dismissed the case and agreed to review how it calculates the timing of cars entering the intersection, KGW.com reports.
