Minneapolis establishes fund to reimburse Stop on Red cases

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The Minneapolis city council voted today to make $100,000 available to reimburse people who received traffic citations through the city's Stop on Red program.

Earlier this year the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the program which used cameras to snap pictures of red-light runners license plate numbers is illegal. In October a Hennepin County judge ordered the city to refund the $142 citations of about 150 people who filed a suit against the city.

Since the judge's ruling, city officials say an additional 400 people have filed motions to get their money back. They hope the $100,000 dollars will be enough to handle these and future claims.

Stop on Red was ruled illegal because the citations were sent to the owners of the vehicles without proof that the owner was the one who drove the car through the red light. City officials say the program reduced accidents by over 30 percent.