The Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday to end the
red-light camera program, which apparently came with "voluntary" fines for traffic
violations. That’s right, "voluntary
fines."
It was revealed this week that violators do not have to pay
the tickets that arrived in the mail if a camera caught them making a traffic
light infraction. As the Los
Angeles Times put it:
"For a variety of reasons, including the way the law was
written, Los Angeles officials said the fines were essentially
"voluntary" and that there are virtually no tangible consequences for
those who refuse to pay."
Heck, you didn’t even need the services of the notorious
"Gold Card Desk," recently
revealed where politicians and others with connections at city hall could
get parking tickets dismissed quietly and cleanly.
The Los Angeles Police Commission first voted to end the
red-light camera program last month with the city council following suit by
unanimous vote yesterday. About 180,000 tickets were issued in the city since
the program began in 2004. Overall, in the county, estimates are that 60% of
red-light camera tickets get paid.
But what of those who didn’t know that paying the city
tickets were voluntary and paid them? They had to fork over nearly $500 dollars
in some cases for a violation while others just ignored the summons – and
apparently did so legally. (The price tag doesn’t even include the cost of
going to traffic school to expunge the ticket from a driver’s record.)
Why should those who paid a "voluntary" fee suffer while
others in the same boat get away free as a bird?
Los Angeles City officials made it clear no refunds will be
paid.
Angry citizens who believed they were doing their duty and
did not try to evade the fine should be rewarded with some make-good policy.
How about a reduction in taxes paid to the city equivalent
to the "voluntary" payment? Or what about treating the payment as a city tax
deductable for federal tax purposes? Wouldn’t the IRS just love that?
Something like that should happen. Those treated unfairly
ought to make their voices heard.