Where I live, these camera tickets can be contested and canceled by simply downloading a “Statement of Non-Responsibility” from the website of the jurisdiction that issued the ticket, checking the box that says “In the care, custody or control of another person who is not a registered owner of the vehicle”, and sending it back to the court. Of course, this is only legal if you truly weren’t the one driving, as is clearly stated on the affidavit. Otherwise it’s perjury.
Sure, might work, but just for reference, for many states a lack of flashing lights doesn’t get you off the hook. In many states, school zone limits are definitely applicable when they are on but are also applicable during posted hours and/or ‘normal’ school zone hours even if they aren’t on.
It’s on the driver to know, either way. Ignorance of the law is not a defense and all that.
(Emphasis mine)
When the OP goes out to take a photo of whether the lights work, they should also look if there’s a sign that says something like “School Zone 7:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. on school days.”
Are you sure about that? Around here, any school zone that has flashing lights also has a sign that posts the hours and speed limit. The lights may be out for whatever reason, but the sign is still there.
Everything depends on how lenient vs. hanging the judge is: the prosecutor may request to throw out any time-stamped videos you bring in as hearsay, and the judge may very well back him up.
The signs here that I have seen say something like “when children are present”. If there is an event at the school on a Saturday or in the evening, it counts.
The sign says 35 when flashing. Anyway several legal sites say this will not be on my record. I will call the court to verify. If that is so i will write my request and if it is denied no big deal
I think that’s the correct approach. Making the request is low effort/potential high reward.
Good luck. Like said above, the standard practice in Illinois is to sock you for costs to appeal, and then deny all - or nearly all - appeals. (Can you guess I’m not a big fan? ;))
$78 here if denied. Not going to bet that to “win” $100. I better check, might be a cost to dispute online
Turns out you cannot contest anything online, all you can do it fill out a fucking form. A form that is not fillable online.
The FAQ has some helpful information - you can be ticketed without flashing lights if students are present. If you live in Georgia! Nothing about any other state. It also has some very helpful information for those that like to speed. The limit there is 25 mph, but you will only be ticketed if you are going 36 . My first reaction was WTF! why would you tell people this, but now I see it is written in the laws of Virginia that you must be going at least 10 over. Maybe that is too allow for radar errors.
The only good thing is it did confirm that conviction does not go on your driving record.
It is a long time since I looked it up and I’m too lazy to do so now, but that distinction reflects the different process afforded for such “camera” tickets. As opposed to LEO-written tickets which automatically come with a court date.
Small comfort.
Interesting. That doesn’t wash here in the UK - if you’re the registered keeper, you have final responsibility for what happens in your car, and you’re legally obliged to inform the Police who the driver was. Saying ‘I don’t know’ isn’t good enough - it’s your car, you give permission for who drives it, so you should know. Speeding is, also, always a Police matter, and does affect your license and insurance, even if it’s a camera.
While true, it happens that 20mph applies to all of Illinois, not just Chicagoland, as codified by 625 ILCS 5/11-605. So, as we see in this thread, varies very much regionally, not necessarily based on population density.
Yeah, it’s only because it’s via camera. It was the only way to get it approved here. There were scandals in other states with the camera company and/or municipality complicitly shortening the length of time that lights remained green and yellow so that cars were being unfairly ticketed for going through red lights (without enough time to react to the change to red).
Yes, one would think so! But there are actually times where someone else in the household (or not in the household) takes the car without permission and commits an infraction. You wouldn’t be responsible if someone takes your credit card and makes charges on it, or if someone steals your car and speeds in it.
I got a speeding ticket via a camera while in Virginia. It was a construction zone. Otherwise, my speed was fine. I looked up the statue and discovered its only a “construction zone” when workers are present. There are no workers in the picture and I’m pretty sure none were present. It was early (7:00 AM) on a Saturday or Sunday morning. The no-point fine was $200. The cost to contest it in terms of time and travel expenses would be much higher. I wonder how much the municipality makes on these types of tickets.
Lots, but the camera company makes even more.