MAITLAND, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
The City of Maitland will discuss spending $113,000 on attorneys to be ready in court when people try and challenge red light camera tickets they receive in the city. When I asked Vice Mayor Phil Bonus, he admitted it does take money to make money, but for City Council, installing the cameras has always been about safety.
"The traffic cameras reduce accidents and produce a safer intersections. They do produce a lot of revenue though, there's no question about that."
The city is estimating $1.4 million from red light cameras in the upcoming fiscal year. Bonus says his experience with red light cameras has actually changed his driving habits.
"As a matter of fact, Mike, I'm as human as anyone else, our family has experienced the electronic enforcement"
We also spoke with attorney Albert Pucylowski. His firm fights red light camera tickets. He believes they are unconstitutional and the city of Maitland should just remove them.
"Of course they're going to say it's about safety. They're trying to sell this idea to the public. They want the public to support them. If the people of Florida were to stand up and look at what these are, they would throw them out."
If you get a ticket in the city, you can count on a lawyer from Maitland ready to stand up for the city in court. Pucylowski says it's a waste of $113,000.
"Actually if they were smart they would take that $113 ,000 and hire three police officers who would do nothing but sit at red lights at the corners of intersections and actually get the drivers. The cameras don't get the drivers. They get the owners of the vehicles."
Maitland believes as long as the cameras are legal and constitutional, it is their duty to make sure people that are ticketed pay their fines when caught.
