ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
The Georgia Department of Transportation doesn't have the power to enforce a law regulating red light cameras in Georgia, according to GDOT spokesman David Spears.
The position comes after CBS Atlanta News asked how GDOT will handle the findings of CBS Atlanta investigation. For three years, the city of Atlanta had been improperly notifying vehicle owners of their red light camera citations.
Sen. Barry Loudermilk of Floyd County said, "the law is clear" that GDOT is given regulatory power by house bill 77 of 2008. He said, under law, GDOT could revoke the city's camera permits and require the city submit all fines it collected while breaking the law to the state's general fund.
The city of Atlanta is "reassessing" the future of its red light camera program after the CBS Atlanta investigation, according to the city's interim chief operating officer Duriya Farooqui.
"We at the city should have caught it sooner," said Farooqui.
A five-month-long CBS Atlanta investigation found the city had not properly notified owners of vehicles caught running a red light by cameras.
According to a state law passed in 2008, governments that operate red light cameras must send a second violation notice by certified mail if the first notice was not paid.
Sen. Barry Loudermilk, an outspoken critic of red light cameras, said sending the second notice certified is necessary to ensure the vehicle owner received the notice before it is sent to collections.
Loudermilk said an unpaid fine sent to a collection agency can damage a person's credit worthiness and cost them money.
CBS Atlanta found more than 15,000 unpaid violation notices were sent to collections without the proper second notice between 2009 and 2011.
Our investigation may lead to the city to suspend the red light camera program because it could be too expensive to operate within the law.
Farooqui wouldn't speculate how much it would cost the city to send second notices.
She confirmed the city would reassess the program in the coming months.
Farooqui said after CBS Atlanta's investigation, the city worked with the collection agency to remove any negative marks on the credit history of drivers who were not properly notified.
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