A woman who was fined for being caught on a speed camera (ASE) in Toronto has won after an appeal.
Omar Ramroof was caught on camera on August 15, 2021, driving at 121 km/h on Avenue Road, where the speed limit is 50 km/h.
The ticket was issued to her owner, Omar Ramroof, but the driver was her son, Blaine Kumar.
Faced with a fine of about $1,400, she appealed, and in December a Ontario court reversed the fine against the vehicle’s owner, saying police failed to provide technical details about the accuracy of the camera’s recordings. Her son swore in court that he was never speeding.
Legal experts say the case is one of the rare cases of speed camera detection that has been dismissed, raising questions about the credibility of Toronto’s speed cameras, which have already issued more than 500,000 tickets.
Lawyers for Lam Roof argued that speed cameras were not checked daily and were vulnerable to vandalism, and that she could not trust them. Rather than blocking speeding vehicles, he said these cameras only target taxpayers with fines.
The City of Toronto is reviewing the ruling but said an acquittal does not mean the speed camera system is inaccurate.
Officer David Powers, who verified the photos, testified in court that the camera readings were accurate, but could not explain how the ASE system worked or when the device was installed.
In particular, he couldn’t answer when the camera’s accuracy calibration was last done. Speed cameras are legally required to be checked for accuracy every 12 months, but they failed to provide concrete evidence that the tests were conducted normally.
Judge Rodriguez, who ruled in the case, determined that the prosecution had failed to substantively prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the vehicle was speeding.