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P/CLOUDY Temp: 66 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, August 29, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend August 7, 2002 Speeders contest tickets, face fines First batch from photo radar van caught while zooming through posted school zone By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Speeders contested the first batch of photo-radar tickets in court Tuesday but it will take at least a month before red-light runners make an appearance. Three speeders pleaded not guilty in Medford Municipal Court to citations accompanied by photos of their vehicles. The technology was not under fire, said Denise Bostwick, a court clerk. The drivers said they did not see children present in the school zone where the police department’s speed van caught their vehicles on camera in May, Bostwick said. Drivers must slow to the posted school zone speed when children are present. Judge Bill Haberlach upheld the speeding citations, which came with a $175 fine that could not be reduced, Bostwick said. The van clocked a speed of 11 to 20 mph over the school zone speed limit on each ticket, Bostwick said. One ticket was dismissed because the defendant had received two citations in the same time spot within minutes of each other, Bostwick said. The driver had circled the block and didn’t realize that the speed van was waiting in the school zone, Bostwick added. Defendants came face-to-face with digital photos of themselves and their vehicles on a newly installed television screen. The judge viewed the images on a screen at the bench. APAC Technologies — the company that processes the city’s photo-enforcement citations — wires the images directly to City Hall from their office on Crater Lake Avenue. Photos of red-light runners, however, won’t show up in court until APAC technicians finish adjusting software that turns digital photos into tickets. No citations have been issued for running red lights at the monitored intersections, although cameras have been snapping pictures every time traffic signals turn red at Biddle and McAndrews roads and Barnett Road and Riverside Avenue. The cameras were inaugurated in May, but the city wanted photos of red-light violations to display the date, time and a vehicle’s speed, said Jack Weaver, who manages Medford’s photo-enforcement project for Australia-based Poltech International Limited. "The city doesn’t want any citation issued if there’s a probability that it could not be upheld in court," Weaver said, adding that he was in court Tuesday as a technical expert. Red-light citations must be mailed within 10 business days from the date the violation happened, according to state law. There will be no backlog of citations issued from photos taken in the past few months, Weaver said. In the absence of citations, the cameras’ simple presence has drastically reduced red-light running, said Medford Deputy Police Chief Ron Norris. Violations are down from the 25 to 50 reported each day before cameras were installed to only about one a day now, Norris said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S