The lawsuits that could torpedo red light cameras in North Carolina
By day, Brian Ceccarelli works as a software engineer in Cary. But by night, he’s a self-described “red light robber.”
For more than a decade, Ceccarelli, 61, has been on a mission to rid North Carolina of automatic red light cameras, which photograph vehicles running red lights and then mail the drivers fines. In 2010, he sued the town of Cary after receiving his second camera citation, arguing the length of time given for yellow lights was too short. Bringing a white board to the courtroom, he served as both expert witness and plaintiff. He lost in 2013, but the town soon shuttered its program.
Today, Ceccarelli operates the “Red Light Robber” website, which recruits plaintiffs to file legal challenges against what he believes are flawed, dangerous and unconstitutional local traffic systems.
And he’s found some takers.
Multiple ongoing cases against red light camera systems in North Carolina could reduce the already dwindling number of municipalities that operate them.
Automated red light camera programs exist in four North Carolina cities: Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Greenville. But in March, the N.C. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Greenville’s program violated state law by not giving at least 90% of the fines collected from its camera program to public K-12 schools.
Greenville had been giving at least 90% of its red light fines to the local Pitt County Schools, but the city would then invoice the district to have part of the money sent back. Keeping more of the money allowed Greenville, which is located about 80 miles east of Raleigh, to self-fund its camera program to a greater degree, argues Paul Stam of the Apex-based Stam Law Firm, which is representing plaintiffs Eric Fearrington and Craig Malmrose in their case against Greenville.
Stam, who goes by Skip, served 16 years in the N.C. General Assembly, representing southern Wake County. A Republican, he served as Speaker Pro Tempore from 2013 to 2016. He began to see red light cameras as an issue after Ceccarelli, a constituent, reached out concerning Cary’s program. Through Ceccarelli, Stam also grew convinced the amount of time given for yellow lights throughout the state was too short.
“The camera is not the problem,” he said. “The camera reveals the problem.”
Kevin Lacy, the state traffic engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation, pushed back on this assertion.
“There isn’t a problem with yellow lights,” Lacy said. “The legal teams that have come up with this approach have done an excellent job of creating a considerable amount of doubt, which is their job.”
Greenville has appealed the Fearrington ruling to the N.C. Supreme Court, which has yet to decide whether it will hear the case. Stam anticipates the city will end its camera program if it is made to pay for it through other means, such as raising taxes or diverting money from other departments. And the city suggested he might be right.
Asked how the city might respond if the Fearrington ruling isn’t overturned, Greenville spokesperson Brock Letchworth said the city “will consider whether it wants to continue the program considering a new contract would likely include increased costs for the city.” Letchworth noted Greenville has updated its funding system to comply with the appellate ruling in the meanwhile.
In 2006, the city of High Point folded its red light camera program after the State Court of Appeals ruled the city had to give more of its fine revenue to the local public schools.
According to Stam, neither Fayetteville nor Wilmington are using their red light camera revenues in compliance with state law. In July, his firm filed a lawsuit against the city of Wilmington and will soon do the same to Fayetteville.
Most of his red light camera plaintiffs, Stam said, came to his firm after visiting Ceccarelli’s Red Light Robber website.
Raleigh’s red light program is unique
In how it funds its SafeLight red light camera program, Raleigh gets to play by its own rules.
When the General Assembly granted Wake County municipalities the right to install red light cameras in 2001, it allowed them to use the fines they collected to cover the programs’ costs. Any remaining funds would then go to local schools. This is why Raleigh was able to give only 9% of its SafeLight citation money to Wake County Public Schools last year, according to Rob Murray, spokesman for the city’s transportation department.
Stam said he made it a point in the General Assembly to stop other municipalities from receiving this type of funding exception.
Raleigh began its SafeLight camera system in 2003 and issued nearly 30,000 citations last year. The citation is $50, with another $50 added for late payments. The cameras are operated by Conduent, a New Jersey-based IT management company.
Raleigh strategically locates its cameras at high-risk intersections using data on collision types and frequency, Murray said.
“Prior third-party reviews, specifically on Raleigh’s program, have shown this tool (Red Light Cameras) have a dramatic impact on reducing angle crashes,” Murray wrote in an email to The News & Observer.
While research backs this statement, the overall success of red light cameras is mixed.
“The effectiveness of red-light camera programs has been a source of controversy in the research community,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states online. “The methodologies used to assess effectiveness have varied, as have the conclusions drawn from different studies.”
A 2019 research paper from the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center found the presence of red light cameras typically increased rear-end crashes while reducing side-impact crashes. It recommended the cameras are best placed at intersections with a greater ratio of angled crashes to rear-end ones.
A 2004 study by two N.C. A&T State University professors was less favorable to the cameras. Over a nearly five-year period, Mark Burkey and Kofi Obeng analyzed more than 300 intersections in Greensboro. They found a 40% increase in rear-end crashes, side crashes, and overall collisions at intersections with red light cameras.
Greensboro shut down its camera program the following year.
The number of cities with automated red light cameras in the United States peaked in 2012 at 533, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit funded by auto insurance companies, and has since dropped to below 350.
In North Carolina, local governments must receive authorization from the General Assembly to operate a red light camera program. Since gaining this right in 2001, Charlotte, Cary, Chapel Hill, Knightdale, Greensboro and High Point have all shut down their camera programs.
‘It was intended to be a safety tool’
All traffic lights in North Carolina follow standards set by the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The manual states all yellow lights should last between three and six seconds, with individual state and local departments factoring in speed limit, terrain and speed perception to determine the time.
Lacy of the state Department of Transportation said the issue isn’t in the length of yellow lights but in the red light camera programs that penalize drivers who enter intersections fractionally too late. North Carolina, he explained, is an all-red state, meaning traffic lights will momentarily sit at red in all directions between color changes. Thus, he said, there’s no real risk of an accident when a car drives through an intersection the tiniest bit late, though an automated camera might still ding the driver.
“They’re sending out all these tickets for people who, by the letter of the law, ran the red light, but the red light camera was not intended to be an enforcement tool,” Lacy said. “It was intended to be a safety tool to prevent people from running red lights and getting in wrecks.”
Lacy suggested the camera programs would be improved if they focused on penalizing drivers who entered intersections after the all-red periods.
In his challenges to the remaining red light systems, Stam and his partners have argued the engineering principles behind the length of yellow lights is flawed. They have invited Ceccarelli to speak as an expert witness, yet his arguments thus far have not prevailed.
Another argument the Stam Law Firm has levied against red light camera systems is that they inherently violate the state constitution.
In 2018, Stam filed a separate lawsuit against the city of Greenville and Pitt County Schools alleging red light camera systems violated Article II, Section 24, of the state constitution which bans the General Assembly from creating local bills “relating to health, sanitation, and the abatement of nuisances.”
Yet this didn’t sway the state Supreme Court, which in June declined to consider overturning the Court of Appeals’ unanimous ruling which allowed red light camera systems to continue operating in the state.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
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This story was originally published September 4, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
