Speeding

The Defendant appealed a Trial Judge’s decision sustaining a school zone speed enforcement violation of G.L. 1956 § 31-41.3-10. The Defendant, a rental car company, contested the speeding violation and the accuracy of the radar camera.  At the close of the evidence the Defendant made a motion to dismiss, claiming that the motorist had not been given notice of the radar and, therefore, could not fairly dispute the calibration of the radar unit. The Trial Judge denied the motion and found the Defendant guilty. The defendant appealed.

The Appeals Panel held that the Defendant did not have standing to bring this case to trial. The statute clarifies that the “registered owner of the motor vehicle shall be primarily responsible in all prosecutions brought pursuant to” its provisions, and further clarifies that “[t]he lessee of a leased vehicle shall be considered the owner of a motor vehicle for purposes of this section.”  The Panel held that the terms “renter” and “lessee” can be used interchangeably and found, therefore, that because of this the Defendant did not have standing to contest the violation. The Appeals Panel denied the appeal, but dismissed the underlying violation. 

 State of Rhode Island v. North American Auto Leasing LLC, No. M20-0009 (April 9, 2021).pdf