A Swedish man living in Oregon has filed a lawsuit against the state’s engineering board after receiving a $500 fine for questioning its traffic light timing.
In 2013, the wife of Mats Järlström received a ticket after driving through a red light but rather than simply paying the fine, Järlström decided to dig a little dipper and discover how yellow lights are timed in Oregon.
Järlström, a Swedish electrical engineer and former air force technician, began to speak out about how red light cameras misuse the mathematical formula for timing traffic lights.
However, after a two-year investigation, the engineering board of Oregon slapped Järlström with a $500 fine for the unlicensed practice of engineering with further threats that if he continues, he could face up to one year in jail.
To fight back, Järlström has recruited the help of the Institute for Justice and is suing the state over its requirement that citizens must have an engineering license to publicly debate the issue.
According to Institute for Justice attorney Sam Gedge, “Criticizing the government’s engineering isn’t a crime; it’s a constitutional right.
“Under the First Amendment, you don’t need to be a licensed lawyer to write an article critical of a Supreme Court decision, you don’t need to be a licensed landscape architect to create a gardening blog, and you don’t need to be a licensed engineer to talk about traffic lights.”