Red light traffic cams are a significant topic in the car world. However, some cities around the country have been less receptive to them than others. Now, the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, could be facing a massive class action suit over using these high-tech cameras to ticket drivers instead of police traffic stops. Something similar has already happened in New Orleans. 

A new class action suit could award millions to Baton Rouge drivers due to the illegal use of traffic cams

According to WBRZ News, the City of Baton Rouge has had its program for red light traffic cams since 2007. However, a class action suit against the city for this program has been in the works since 2018. As of December 2, Judge Kelly Balfour officially certified the lawsuit, which means it can move forward in the same way similar lawsuits in Louisiana have. 

So, why is there a class action suit against the city? In a nutshell, with the way the law is written, these citations should come from police traffic stops and not from red light cams. Joe McMahon, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, had much to say. According to him, “These camera companies come in, they pitch a bill to a councilman and other government reps and say ‘Hey, we have this great program,’ and say it’s all about public safety, but you’ll make a lot of money.”

He then added about the class action suit, “When this program was started, the ordinance that established it put the program under the control of the Department of Public Works. Well, this violates the home rule charter for East Baton Rouge because the home rule charter says traffic is a police function.”

The city could owe quite a bit

Of course, it’s hard to say precisely how big this class action suit could be. However, the attorney says, “There are probably at least 250,000 tickets that have been issued. The last numbers we have received were from 2021 and showed collections just shy of $40 million.” Still, the figure may have increased by about $10 million since then. 

Notably, there was a similar class action suit in Orleans Parish. In that case, the judge required them to pay back about $26 million for red light traffic cam citations. However, the parish hasn’t paid a dime. Now, that figure could be around $50 million due to interest. Additionally, the attorney is considering another lawsuit against the school board over its use of the traffic cams instead of police traffic stops.