Have you ever suspected that your city or town is trying too hard to catch traffic scofflaws in the pursuit of ticket revenue? A Florida woman received a ticket based on evidence from a red light camera, but believed the ticket was unfair because the yellow light was too short. The power of math proved that she was correct..

Her math tutor husband took a stopwatch to the intersection where she received the ticket, and set out to vindicate her. He discovered that yellow lights at that intersection are eight tenths of a second shorter than county guidelines require.

That doesn’t excuse every ticket issued for red-light violations, but it’s enough of a discrepancy to make county residents suspicious.

“I said, ‘If it’s really short, then you got short-changed and you got a ticket illegally,'” said [Mike] Mogil.

The speed limit on Collier Boulevard, where she was cited, is 45 mph. According to county guidelines, the yellow light should be 4.5 seconds.

Mogil said he tested it 15 times with an average of only 3.8 seconds.

The Collier County Transportation Department claims that the short yellow lights were an oversight, and that they are checking stoplights countywide in order to prevent more erroneous tickets.

Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket [WBBH] (Thanks, Ryan!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.