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High Court Says Attorney Must Pay Speeding Ticket

Flickr / Dr. Warner
The city of Sioux City is one of several Iowa municipalities to use traffic cameras.

The Iowa Supreme Court saysit’s legal for cities to issue tickets to vehicle owners using traffic cameras. Attorney Michael Jacobsma, who represented himself, says the city of Sioux City denied him due process when he was mailed a citation, after his vehicle was spotted by a traffic camera going 67 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour speed zone. 

While Jacobsma agrees it was his vehicle caught on camera, he says Sioux City is wrong to assume he was the driver. Jacobsma says unless he claims his vehicle was stolen , he has no other recourse to prove he wasn’t behind the wheel.

The Iowa Supreme Court disagrees, saying Jacobsma could have provided evidence that someone else was driving his vehicle. And since he didn't, the ticket stands.