A new class action lawsuit has accused Stone Park of illegally using red light cameras to reap big bucks from motorists who unwittingly pay $100 each when they receive tickets for stopping just beyond the white line before completing a right turn on red.
On Nov. 16, attorneys Richard F. Linden, of the firm of Lipman & Linden; Robert Fioretti, of Roth Fioretti; and Peter Bustamante, all of Chicago, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the village of Stone Park, demanding Stone Park refund the money it collected from motorists who paid allegedly improper tickets issued by the village’s red light cameras.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Michael Tock, identified only as a resident of Cook County. According to the complaint, Tock received a ticket in September, accusing him of illegally turning right on red, at the intersection of Mannheim Road and Lake Street in the village, located near O’Hare International Airport in Chicago’s near west suburbs.
Richard F. Linden
| Lipman & Linden
However, in the complaint, Tock asserts a photo taken by the red light camera at the intersection shows he had come to a complete stop before entering the intersection, as allowed by law.
When Tock contested the ticket, it was immediately dismissed, the complaint said.
While he was spared from paying the $100 fine this time, Tock said he was still greatly inconvenienced by having to spend time and money to contest the allegedly improper traffic citation in the first place.
And Tock and his lawyers said they believe there are likely at least hundreds of others who have similarly been either inconvenienced by such improper tickets, or who have unwittingly paid $100 fines to the village, when they should not have even been ticketed in the first place.
The complaint notes state law specifically forbids counties, cities and villages from using such automated traffic law enforcement systems to ticket motorists who come to a complete stop before entering the intersection, when turning right on red, even if they stop “at a point past a stop line or crosswalk,” unless pedestrians are present.
According to the complaint, Stone Park routinely has dismissed such tickets issued to motorists, if they contest their fines, as Tock did.
However, the complaint said, they believe “in the vast majority of instances,” people who receive the tickets choose simply to pay the $100 fine, rather than invest the time, effort and money needed to contest them.
The plaintiffs are seeking to expand the case to include anyone who has received such red light camera tickets from Stone Park.
The plaintiffs are seeking court orders requiring Stone Park to change the process under which it reviews its red light camera violations, to end its alleged practice of sending out such improper tickets.
The plaintiffs are further seeking a court order requiring Stone Park to refund all fines, penalties and interest paid by anyone who received a red light camera ticket in Stone Park, accusing them of illegal right turns on red, when their vehicle had actually come to a complete stop just over a white stop line or crosswalk. They are also demanding Stone Park pay their attorney fees.
The complaint does not estimate how much money may be at stake in this case.