Seeing Red Over Red-Light Cameras: A New Jersey doctor fights City Hall
By Dr. Michael Ehrenreich, MD
It takes quite a bit to get me outraged. I am a busy dermatologist in Millburn, NJ, tending to the rashes and wrinkles of my community. I don’t write Op-Ed pieces or spend my weekends in political protest. When Thomas Jefferson wrote that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing,” he was not envisioning me.
It all started with a traffic ticket, received in the mail, featuring a series of photographs showing a blue Chevy Traverse running a red light in Springfield, NJ, along with a link to a video. Upon review, there is no doubt that the car is mine, but there is also no doubt that at the time of the incident I was in my office seeing patients.
I figured that it would be a simple matter to plead Not Guilty. After all, if I was not the driver of the vehicle, then how could I possibly be guilty? Since the photographs and video do not identify an individual but only a vehicle, it seemed impossible that the state could make a case.
In fact, I was stunned to learn that in New Jersey if your car is caught on a traffic camera running a red light that there is so-called strict liability. This means that if it is your car then you are liable, even if you testify that you were not the operator of the vehicle and even if the State cannot prove that you were.
That’s where my outrage kicks in. I am not a lawyer. I am not versed in constitutional law. But the situation felt wrong. I pleaded Not Guilty—if the State has a case, I figured, let them make it. I started researching New Jersey’s red light camera program in preparation for my day in court. Not surprisingly, I discovered that there’s money at stake. Quite a bit of it.
Posted: October 16th, 2013 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Red Light Cameras | Tags: Dr. Michael Ehrenreich, Red Light Camera Program, Red Light Cameras | 1 Comment »