SARASOTA COUNTY DRIVERS CHALLENGE SCHOOL ZONE SPEED CAMERA TICKETS AFTER BROWARD RULING

SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) - A traffic camera controversy is spreading across Florida, with some drivers challenging school zone speeding tickets in court.

A recent Broward County ruling threw out dozens of cases, and now some local drivers are taking a closer look at their own tickets.

Sarasota County resident Joan Ramsey received a letter in the mail about two weeks ago saying she owed the city of Sarasota $100. She was not pulled over by a police officer. Her ticket came in the mail from a school zone speed camera.

“Well it goes back to is it constitutional or not? Because the constitution says I should have to face my accuser if I’ve done something wrong, I can’t. What am I going to face? A camera?” Ramsey said.

Ramsey was driving down Fruitville Road outside of school zone hours a couple weeks ago. She said she was going the regular street speed limit but was still issued a ticket.

“They got you by the boo boo, it says right on there, if you don’t pay by this date, your license will be suspended,” Ramsey said.

She is joining a growing number of concerned and frustrated drivers.

“I think people often have the misconception that because it’s on a camera, you can’t fight it. And I guess the message is that you can fight it,” said attorney Ted Hollander with The Ticket Clinic.

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A Broward County traffic judge threw out all pending school zone speed camera cases in his courtroom, ruling the speed detection device used is not properly approved under Florida law.

While that ruling only applies in Broward for now, attorneys like Hollander said they are trying to expand that same legal argument to other counties across Florida, including the Suncoast.

“Well it is a new law, we are seeing a lot more of these camera violations coming across our desks, so we believe the same issue that we’ve dealt with in Hillsborough and Broward counties is going to apply in Manatee and Sarasota,” Hollander said.

Some drivers in Sarasota County are now watching closely, wondering if similar legal challenges could surface here as well.

“But for a camera to say they got me when there’s... glitches. It could have got a picture of my license and clocked somebody else for all I know. But who do I complain to? Nobody,” Ramsey said.

For drivers like Ramsey, the question now is whether these camera issued tickets will continue to hold up or face more challenges in court.

Sarasota County currently has about 22 school zone speed cameras in operation. Legal experts said if the Broward ruling extends beyond that case, it could put the legal basis for these cameras on the Suncoast under scrutiny.