The City of Cleveland, Ohio is facing a class action lawsuit over millions of dollars of fines garnered through traffic enforcement cameras. The lawsuit alleges that the city has been illegally ticketing drivers of leased or rented vehicles for the past 4 years using these cameras, whereas up until very recently the law only allowed for driver-owned cars to be fined for running a red light or speeding.
Given the number of tickets issued, estimates suggest the class action could cost Cleveland as much as $10 million.
Reportedly, City Law Director Robert Triozzi has admitted that the law was flawed as written, nevertheless he maintains that those drivers who have paid their fines have forfeited their rights to appeal the law. And the loophole in the law was closed by city officials in March.
However, that still leaves a large number of people who were illegally fined. About one third of the vehicles in local area are leased, according to the president of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Association, and 3 years ago nearly half of the cars on the road were leased.
