TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - A Lucas County Common Pleas Court judge has ruled the City of Toledo does not require an officer to be present in order to continue using the red light and speed cameras.
Judge Dean Mandros previously issued an injunction allowing the city to continue using the cameras until the case could be heard and a ruling made.
On Monday, Judge Mandros ruled that the state's law requiring cities with cameras to have a police officer present in order for a citation to be written was in violation of Toledo's home rule rights. See a copy of the ruling
.
But, many in the Toledo area are unhappy with the decision, including one man who says he is being held responsible for a red light ticket he received while someone else was driving his car.
Jim Colvin says it all goes back to August, when the person Jim gave his car to was driving near the intersection of Cherry and Summit.
He says the driver made a right-hand turn out of the middle lane onto Summit. In doing so she triggered the red light camera, even though she never technically ran the light.
Since the car is still in Jim's name, the ticket was sent to him. He says the driver tried to take care of it, but got nowhere. Now he's being held responsible for the ticket, and he's not having it.
"It doesn't bother me if someone runs those, a red light or a stop sign, and gets a ticket for it and those are the individuals that did it, they should be fined. But, I just don't believe that the person who owns the car, and has basically donated a car to someone else, should be punished for being generous," said Colvin.
Jim says he is sending a final letter to the city as a last attempt to try and work out the ticket. He says if he doesn't hear back, he plans to sue.
