Computer issues red-light ticket to wrong driver

Errors lead to innocent drivers receiving violations in Apopka

APOPKA, Fla. – Chris Wincey has lived in Apopka his entire life and is familiar with the city's 21 red-light cameras. Hoping to avoid fines and crashes, Wincey said he's careful to stop at all red lights.

So when Wincey, 34, received a notice in the mail informing him he had run a red light at the intersection of U.S. Route 441 and Sheeler Avenue, the warehouse worker was quite surprised.

"It was a green light," recalls Wincey.

[WEB EXTRA: How to dispute a red light violation]

Still, just to make sure he hadn't gotten distracted and accidentally run a red light, Wincey visited the website listed on the violation notice.  Besides viewing still photos of his  GMC Yukon in the intersection, Wincey took a few extra moments to download a video clip showing his SUV driving past the cameras.

"Plain as day, you can see in the video that before, during, and after I was in the intersection, the light's green," said Wincey. "I feel like I'm being accused of something I didn't do."

Convinced he was the victim of mistaken identity, Wincey sent an email to American Traffic Solutions, the contractor that provides red-light cameras to the city of Apopka.  He received a response the following day.

"The reason for the violation is that you were traveling in the left-hand turn lane which had a red arrow at the time," the email from ATS stated.  "Unfortunately, the city still deems this as a violation and you will need to either pay the violation or request a hearing."

But Wincey's SUV was not in the left-hand turn lane, as the video evidence confirms.

Instead, a dark-colored sedan can be seen driving in the turn lane.   As the sedan approaches the intersection, the driver appears to ignore the red arrow and crosses the stop bar painted on the road before quickly merging one lane to the right behind Wincey.

"I have to pay for it, regardless if I'm right or wrong," said Wincey, who claimed he would lose money by taking off time from work to fight the $158 ticket during an administrative hearing.

Wincey was also frustrated that an Apopka police officer had reviewed the video before ATS issued the violation notice.  The officer signed the ticket, verifying that Wincey was the offender.

"It makes you livid.  It literally makes your blood boil," he said.  "I know I'm in the right."

So Wincey sent a second email to ATS, once again explaining they had sent the violation notice to the wrong driver.  This time, the company said Wincey's case would be reviewed as he awaited his scheduled administrative hearing.  The red-light camera contractor forwarded the complaint to the Apopka Police Department.

"We did review the event and found the violation to be issued in error," said Capt. Randy Fernandez, an Apopka Police Department spokesman.

As soon as the agency discovered Wincey had been improperly issued a ticket, it immediately dismissed Wincey's violation.

According to Fernandez, computer software used by ATS to automatically read license plate numbers mistakenly zoomed in on Wincey's SUV instead of the offender's car.  ATS then forwarded the incorrect driver information to Apopka Police, said Fernandez, who acknowledged a police officer failed to catch the computer error before the violation notice was mailed to Wincey.

Although Fernandez said his agency occasionally receives inaccurate driver information from ATS, he said such mistakes do not happen often.

Of the nearly 18,000 red-light violation notices issued by Apopka police last year, 20 were dismissed after drivers contested the tickets at an administrative hearing, state records show.  It was not immediately clear how many of those may have been a result of the wrong motorist receiving a violation notice.

Another 620 contested red-light violations were upheld by a hearing officer, according to state records.  Besides paying the $158 fine, drivers who unsuccessfully contest citations in Apopka may be required to pay an additional $250 in fees.

If a driver believes the red-light camera system identified the wrong vehicle, Apopka police are willing to review the video prior to an administrative hearing.

"We're not going to waste someone's time," said Fernandez, who invited citizens to call the Police Department if they believe they were erroneously issued a red-light violation notice.

"They may even come into the Apopka Police Department lobby and review it themselves, if they need assistance with the video," he said.

If the vehicle was properly identified, disputes over whether a violation actually occurred can only be considered by an administrative hearing officer, said Fernandez.

Although Apopka police officials believe the black sedan seen in Wincey’s violation video did run a red light, the agency said it would not be issuing that vehicle’s owner a violation notice since too much time had passed since the incident occurred.

Wincey is urging other motorists who receive red-light tickets to review video clips on the camera contractor's website instead of just relying on still photographs printed on the violation notices.

"There may be a lot of people out there who pay these tickets without looking at them and being as thorough as I've been," he said.

Red Light Camera Report by Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles


About the Author:

Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter Mike DeForest has been covering Central Florida news for more than two decades.