Driver Outruns Photo Radar Machine

An Arcadia man ticketed by Pasadena’s controversial photo radar beat the machine Thursday in Municipal Court when a judge ruled that the police car containing the device was painted the wrong color--a finding that could reap benefits for hundreds of other speeders photographed in the act.

Judge Samuel L. Laidig noted that the state Vehicle Code requires traffic enforcement vehicles to be all white or painted white with a sharply contrasting color, usually black, to alert motorists.

The Pasadena Police Department painted its radar vehicle white and gold, a color scheme not used on any of its other vehicles.

Laidig ruled that any evidence from the photo radar is inadmissible because of the code violation.

Defendant Joseph L. Logsdon, who said he spent $1,000 in attorney fees to fight the $68.50 speeding ticket, was ecstatic.

“The whole thing is hilarious to me,” said Logsdon, who is the first motorist to mount a serious legal challenge to use of the machine. “I only wish they would have kicked the thing out of the city.”

Biggest Winners

But the biggest winners may be the approximately 900 motorists who have received tickets since the device was first used in June, but have not yet paid them. Assistant city prosecutor Christopher Smith said the city may drop the charges, although he left open the possibility of prosecuting another case before a different judge.

Those who have already paid their tickets will not get their money back, Smith said.

And even if the city drops the other cases, the windfall will not last long.

The Police Department plans to repaint the photo-radar car black and white, like its other vehicles, and have the device back in operation next week, Lt. Robert Huff said.

“Sure, I’m disappointed, but not too disappointed,” Huff said. “We’re going to continue on.”

The photo radar is a combination of a standard traffic radar, a microcomputer, a camera and a flash unit.

A police officer dials in the speed limit and the device, mounted inside the back of the car, photographs anything traveling faster.

Information from the photo, which includes the vehicle’s speed and the driver’s face, is sent to the registered owner of the car.

Pasadena and Paradise Valley, Ariz., are the only cities in the country now using the Swiss-made device. A representative from Palo Alto was in the courtroom to monitor the case.