All 50,000 L.A. Drivers With Unpaid Red Light Camera Tickets Still Have to Pay Up

...even though the city terminated the program over the summer.

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Complex Original

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The city of Los Angeles may have ended its red light camera program over the summer, but if you’re one of the 50,000 drivers with outstanding fines for violations, you’re still going to have to pay up. Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 in favor of paying Arizona contractor American Traffic Solutions roughly $11,000 a month to collect outstanding tickets. You can run, but you can’t hide.

This comes as a surprise to some, especially since L.A. has been boycotting all but a few Arizona businesses since May of 2010. The tickets raked in $107,000 for the city last month, but some still argue that continuing to pay ATS is a waste of resources in addition to being a possible violation of the ban on Arizona businesses. June Gibson, the Assistant Chief Legislative Analyst, told MyFoxLA that “the city can and should end the contract when the cost of the contractor exceeds the ticket revenue,” an excellent point.

So, while council voted to terminate the program, there was no way it was ending without the city collecting those fees. Regardless of anyone’s feelings on the matter, if you owe L.A. money for unpaid red light camera tickets, you’re still going to have to cough it up.

[via LAist]

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