One in a series

Re “Drivers Don’t Deserve Sympathy, Says Weissman”

An arch-defender of red-light cameras at intersections, former City Councilman Andy Weissman has seen drivers blow into a rage because a camera tripped them up at 3 in the morning for running a red light.

“Absent the red light cameras, a ticket would not have happened, drivers reason, because you would not have patrols at intersections overnight.”

Like the good judge he formerly was, Mr. Weissman tuts-tuts that “you still are required to abide by the traffic rules whenever you are on the road.”

Red light cameras birthed probably the most onesided courtroom in

When Mr. Weissman presided over long-gone Traffic Court in red light camera cases, “99 out of 100 that I handled resulted in pleas without trial. Drivers saw the evidence, and they chose to acknowledge their culpability. That way they could go to traffic school and keep the ticket off their record.

“This option was not always available if they went to trial and lost.”

As for drop-dead guilt, “it wasn’t necessarily 99 times out of 100 based on trial evidence,” said Mr. Weissman. “It was

99 times out of 100 based on the evidence on the citation, or now on videos.”
His mantra remains firmly planted: “I don’t have much sympathy for people who complain that it is unfair they get ticketed at 3 in the morning.

“I still am of the opinion, based on what we have been told by our police as well as what I have observed anecdotally, there are fewer major-injury collisions as a result of red light cameras.”

(To be continued)