Woman says city’s speed trap is illegal

OREGON CITY, Ore. - A woman who says she’s a victim of an illegal police speed trap in Milwaukie had her day in court Friday and says she’s fighting on behalf of all drivers.

“Most of their budget is off of tickets. It’s a racket,” said Lalita Miles who got her first traffic ticket ever last April on King Road in Milwaukie. She argued in state court that the multimillion-dollar moneymaker for the city is illegal.

A KATU News investigation uncovered an Oregon Department of Transportation document called a “speed order” showing the area where Miles was ticketed is supposed to be 35 mph, not 25 mph like it said on her citation.

Based on the discrepancy, Miles and her husband, Bob, argued before a judge that her ticket should be dismissed.

“Like my wife said, if she would have gone 35 in a posted 25 and it was actually posted for that, we would have paid the ticket, and you would not have heard from us at all,” said Bob Miles.

Evidence presented in court showed the officer who wrote Lalita Miles’ ticket also ticketed 64 drivers in three hours the day Miles was pulled over.

The judge in the case said she will make a decision next week whether Miles’ ticket will stand or be dismissed.

As Miles awaits the judge’s decision, more drivers complained to KATU News that another section of Highway 99 East is Milwaukie’s newest speed trap.

William Jenks, who operates a guitar shop in the area, said he’s watched hundreds of people get tickets in just two months in a new 30 mph zone on the highway.

“They’re just pulling them over one after another,” he said.

ODOT officials said new signs went up in the area dropping the speed limit to 30 mph in late November.

But this time the city of Milwaukie got a speed order, making the change undoubtedly legal.

A letter sent to KATU News from the state traffic engineer stated Milwaukie has to obey those speed orders and cannot arbitrarily lower speeds.