Red light cameras rake in the cash

TAMPA - On July 1, the fines for running a red light went up --from $125 to $158 dollars. Fight the fine and lose, and it's going from $150 to $250 dollars.

And under the new state law, cities and towns have to split the proceeds 50-50 with the state.

There's no shortage of folks, clutching their tickets, fighting the fines.

Jairo Hernandez insisted the system is defective.

"Those cameras," he said, "is not operating right."

To which Magistrate Bill Cristie replied, "do you have anything else you want to add?"

"No sir," Hernandez replied. He left $150 dollars lighter in the wallet.

In the next video, a white car can be seen sneaking through the red light. It's Alexander Henry's, and his story is that a tailgater drove him through the light.

"It was going fairly quickly," Henry said. "And I was very concerned that it was going to rear end me," he said.

Henry's judgment was also "guilty."

Same thing for Honda SUV driver Josefina Campos. She unsuccessfully pleaded poverty, telling the judge she hasn't even paid rent for the month.

To which Cristie said gently, "I listen, I sympathize. But it cannot be part of my decision-making process." But Campos did get an extra 15 days to pay.

July 1, the fines went up, from $125 to $158 dollars. Fight the fine and lose, and it's going from $150 to $250 dollars. And under the new state law, cities and towns have to split the proceeds 50-50 with the state.

One thing that did not change with the new law is right on red. The new law says you can do it on red if you are cautious and prudent, but it really depends on what county you're driving in.

A word to the wise: Hillsborough won't ticket right turns on red if you are driving under 15 miles per hour, but Lakeland and Tempe Terrace demand a full stop.

Still, there's proof you can fight City Hall. Dave Leventry actually beat the ticket by proving he couldn't have been driving.

"I wasn't even in the country," he said, proving that with his passport, hotel bills, and orders from the government that he was in Germany when the ticket was issued.

"If you can prove you weren't driving then you shouldn't be fined," he said.

Plenty of other people, lacking the kind of proof Leventry had, were ordered to pay even though they claimed they weren't driving.