Dayton traffic-camera suit dropped

9/25/2012

DAYTON — A law firm has dropped its lawsuit against the city of Dayton’s red-light and speed camera system.

In a document filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, attorneys dismissed the lawsuit against Dayton and camera operator RedFlex “without prejudice,” which means the lawsuit can be re-filed within a year.

Dayton lawyer Mike Dyer, who represented three Dayton residents who sued the city in May, said he dismissed the case pending the outcome of a similar lawsuit in Toledo. That case is being reviewed by an appellate court after a Lucas County Common Pleas judge dismissed it last February.

The lawsuit sought an end to the automated ticketing system and was filed about a month after Dayton began enforcing a policy to tow drivers with two or more unpaid camera-generated citations.

A few weeks after the lawsuit was filed, the Dayton city commission voted to relax its towing criteria, increasing the towing minimum to three unpaid citations, and agreeing to take people owing $250 or more off the tow list if they agreed to enroll in a payment plan.

“I think the case still has merit and I think quite honestly [whether] the courts side with the city or not, what the city is doing is wrong — it really is,” Mr. Dyer said.

City attorneys argued in court filings that the cameras are legal.

Automated red-light and speeding cameras like Dayton’s have withstood numerous legal challenges in Ohio, including a 2008 Ohio Supreme Court ruling.