Close to a half-million people who received red-light camera tickets in New Jersey will receive partial refunds under a settlement in a class-action suit.

The refunds will apply to motorists who received tickets at intersections in 18 towns where the timing of the yellow lights wasn’t officially certified until July 25.

But motorists, who received tickets from $85 to $140, won’t exactly be able to celebrate with a surf-and-turf dinner. The average $6 refund will be more suited for a McDonald’s Value Meal.

The refunds apply to motorists who received tickets before July 25 in the cities of Jersey City, Linden and Rahway; the boroughs of Glassboro, Palisades Park and Roselle Park; and the townships of Brick, Deptford, East Brunswick, East Windsor, Gloucester, Lawrence, Monroe, Piscataway, Pohatcong, Union, Wayne and Woodbridge.

They apply only to cameras operated by American Traffic Solutions. In Newark, for example, where 19 of the cameras are located, the cameras are operated by a different vendor and are not part of the $4.2 million settlement announced today.

A separate class-action suit is pending against Redflex Traffic Systems, vendor for cameras in Newark, Edison, New Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Englewood Cliffs, Springfield Township, Gloucester Township and Stratford Borough.

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Ramona Way received a $140 ticket in the spring for a rolling right turn on red at Routes 1&9 and South Stiles Street in Linden as she returned home from the doctor’s office.

She was told today that American Traffic Solutions had agreed to a $4.2 million settlement in the class-action suit.

"That’s great," she said.

Then she was told the settlement, after attorney and settlement administrative fees, would be split among 500,000 tickets, leaving her with a $6 refund.

"That’s not great," she said.

"It’s an insult," she added. "That light will go an entrapping people and they’ll continue to make money."

Stephen DeNittis, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said motorists who received tickets at the intersections in question will get a postcard as early as February asking them if they want to file their claim. They would receive their part of the settlement in the summer.

DeNittis said the lawyers settled because there was uncertainty over how the courts would have ruled and they didn’t want to get involved in a prolonged lawsuit.

He said the lawsuits will have a side benefit for New Jersey motorists.

"Because of our lawsuits, now we believe the camera systems will be operated correctly going into the future," DeNittis said. "The point of the class action was to ensure proper conduct in the future. I would hope people would follow through and file a claim."

In June, the state Department of Transportation suspended cameras at 63 intersections over questions about whether the yellow lights were giving motorists enough time to get through an intersection. The DOT the next month lifted the suspension after finding the cameras met standards.

In a statement today, American Traffic Solutions general counsel George Hittner said it was in the best interest of ATS and customers to "put this issue behind us."

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"This settlement will allow them to once again focus their efforts on enhancing road safety," he said. "Assuming the court approves the settlement, this will resolve all outstanding claims against ATS and those against the cities we work with, including those not previously included in the current class action lawsuits."

State Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), a vocal critic of the red-light camera program, said yellow lights on automatic traffic cops are still too quick, and ATS continues to make millions of dollars from unsuspecting motorists "in the mythical name of safety."

He has introduced legislation that would give drivers an extra second to get through New Jersey intersections with red-light cameras, and lower the fine for right-turn violations from $85 to $20.

"We need to fix or kill this flawed program now," O’Scanlon said.

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