The Contentious-Administrative Court No. 9 of Madrid has annulled a fine that had been imposed for allegedly skipping a red light. The reason? The problems with the camera that takes the photo to capture the proof of this infraction.
The events took place in Madrid, where a driver was penalized for said action, which resulted in a fine of 200 euros, as well as the withdrawal of 4 points from the license.
However, the citizen was not satisfied with the sanction, so he went to the lawyer Francisco José Borge Larrañaga, legal director of Eurosistema Club Automovilista, who was in charge of challenging the sanctioning resolution.
The lawyer’s argument was based on the fact that his client claimed to have passed the traffic light when it was amber, in addition to the fact that there was no evidence to corroborate the administration’s version, which meant that, since there was no probative activity of the position, his presumption of innocence was not being respected.
Due to this, it is necessary for the Administration to support the load test to prove all the necessary elements to impose a fine and the lawyer insistently pointed out that the method used for this was not sufficient.
It refers to the photo-red system, in which cameras are installed at traffic lights to take pictures of those vehicles that do not respect pedestrian crossings. The key is in the fact that this system is responsible for measuring sequences and cycles, so it can fail.
Thus, the defense argument has gone through pointing out that this system does not have to be excluded from metrological control, it must be subject to administrative and technical actions that verify that the equipment continues to function correctly.
The Administration, for its part, indicated that this is not the case, that it was not engaged in making measurements and that, therefore, it was not necessary to review it. However, taking up two sentences, both from the Supreme Court, one from November 12, 2015 and the other from October 9, 2014, Borge Larrañaga has shown the opposite.
Source: Confilegal
