City issues $3.2 million in school-zone speed camera fines

A speed camera watches over traffic on Mount Pleasant Avenue in Providence. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Records show Providence collected $3.2 million in fines during the first year of its contentious school-zone speed camera program.

WPRI-TV reports the city will get close to $1.5 million in revenue after it pays the private company that operates the cameras $1.3 million and pays close to $500,000 in legal fees and refunds related to a lawsuit over the program.

Providence issued 63,267 speeding tickets between January and December.

A court dismissed more than 4,000 tickets due to printing errors during the first batch of violations.

Drivers later filed a federal class-action lawsuit over the program, and the city agreed to refund $20 of the $95 fine to drivers ticketed before April 15.

Tickets are now only issued on days when school is in session.

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