One-third of motorists who receive an $85 red light camera ticket in Dayton, Ohio have found that they can safely ignore it. The city has issued 33,300 citations -- worth $2.8 million -- but only 20,000 have paid.

That means Dayton has collected only $1.7 million, revenue which it splits with Redflex, the Australian company that operates the cameras. Redflex keeps $1.1 million and the city pockets $600,000. The ticket is a civil offense, and police officials are reluctant to expend resources to collect.

The city may not have much time left to collect any new fines. An Ohio state Senate committee hears testimony today from Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Springdale) whose bill to restrict the use of photo enforcement passed the state House in May with a vote of 72-23.

Dayton Police Department spokesperson Carol Johnson said that she is not sure why the city has not been more aggressive in collecting the unpaid fines. NewsCenter 7 spoke with a representative from Redflex Traffic Systems. Joe Moore was asked whether Redflex thought the city of Dayton was doing all it could do to collect the fines.... Det. Johnson said the police department does not have the power to go after red-light runners who do not pay their fines because it is a civil citation.