I haven’t gotten a ticket since I was 16. Ugh. I misjudged the yellow at an intersection in town and ran it just as it turned red–and was greeted with a FLASH! Shit. Fuck fuck shit. Two weeks later, the “Notice to appear in court” thingy appears in the mail, with my lovely mug clearly seen on the photo. sigh
Actually, the notice came in my hubby’s name as he’s the first listed registered driver of the car, so we have to fill out the form on the back and correct it that he wasn’t the one driving. So, there will be some delay as I’m relisted as the offending driver.
Is this a traffic school kind of thing, or strictly a fine sort of thing? I don’t mind traffic school if it means no points and/or does not affect my insurance rates. Will the fact I’ll be 7mos preggo by the time I have to appear in court have any impact?
There is controversy over the use of red light cameras, I know. Reportedly, our city has (or had) an illegal contract with the camera company, in which company covers the cost of running the system if enough tickets aren’t generated. This, according to California supreme court in December 2008, encourages the company to find and fine more tickets.
Again, I dunno that that has anything to do with anything for me, though. I misjudged the yellow, and the light was indeed red when I entered the intersection.
My understanding (which is possibly flawed) is that camera tickets don’t count as points against your license. So while the fine can be steep, it shouldn’t effect your insurance rates.
Yes, they do count. Mine said the point could be excused with traffic school.
You can always try asking for mercy, as judges like to feel they do have a role to play so they sometimes prove it by being lienient. But be careful how you do it. If your testimony is vague “I was distracted by a bee”, it might work. If you admit to the crime “Yes, I saw it was wrong and did it because I was late” then you have wasted your time.
YMMV IANAL but we ignored the one that we received and nothing ever happened. It was a while ago, while legal battles were still happening over the cameras, but the form we received had no way of filling it out that wasn’t an admission of guilt and somehow that made it moot because of some Fifth Amendment nonsense.
I was all for filling it out and paying the fine, as far as I was concerned, the person in question had done it and been caught redhanded, even if it was by accident at a right hand turn, but instead we ignored it based on the aforementioned reasoning provided by someone in the traffic enforcement dept. and nothing ever happened.
Generally though, ignoring a ticket usually means huge fines and trouble, and sometimes even warrants, so if I were you, I might buddy up to someone in traffic enforcement and see what they say.
Very useful, Gfactor. I’m a little confused, though, as there was no fine listed on the “Notice of Violation” I received in the mail today.
Oh my GOD, yes there is, in itty bitty print on the bottom of the page. $446.00. FOUR HUNDRED FORTY-SIX DOLLARS. And a point. And notice to insurance. AUGH.
Wow, fines are high in CA. My husband got gigged by a red light camera in Prince Georges County, MD, and it was $75 and no points. And we just had to mail in the check.
I was told by a friend (best opening lines ever, right?) that you just send it back with a reply saying it wasn’t the owner of the car driving or some such.
If you get an even larger fine a few days/weeks later, it’s not my fault.
Not that I’m recommending it, but if you’re driving someone else’s car (e.g. your husband’s car) and the ticket comes in the name of the husband, the husband could just go to traffic school for you (eta: that’s assuming that you don’t send in the form to change the name of the person to whom the ticket applies). This could be useful for various reasons (e.g. one spouse has used up all his traffic school opportunities, or it’s easier for one spouse to go to traffic school than it is for the other spouse.) I know of someone who has done this (gone to traffic school for another person’s red light ticket.)
Someone staying with us got caught making a right turn on red without stopping driving our truck. There is indeed a place to fill out if the owner of the vehicle wasn’t driving. She paid the fine, and I don’t know if she went to traffic school or not. (She doesn’t own a car, so the insurance isn’t an issue.)
Sure it’s expensive, but that’s because the state has no money and tries to get as much as possible out of those without a lobby.
Do not do this. Do not reply at all. In Arizona, and I’m pretty sure in California too, the courts cannot legally serve you through the mail. If you don’t respond, the benefit of the doubt that you never got it is in your favor.
I have firsthand experience with this. This is not a cousin’s friend’s neighbor’s aunt’s brother’s golf caddy’s story-- it’s mine. I ignored a redlight ticket that I got in the mail. They have something like 90 or 120 days to serve you in person, which they usually won’t do, especially if you live in a city other than the city you got the ticket in-- and if you live in a different county then you are almost surely home free. After that time was up, I was able to find my court case online and, sure enough, Dismissed.
Do not respond at all. Acknowledging anything is admission you received it and practically admission of guilt.
They letters they send have very scary wording but I promise you that they are empty threats. I have a DA friend and a State Trooper friend that I’ve discussed this extensively with and I’ve been to traffic school twice (:o). You can probably verify everything I’ve said here online if you take enough time to search around.
Say that it was someone wearing a mask of your face, like in that episode of Columbo.
Oh, and they stole your car. But you managed to steal it back afterwards, so you never reported it.
Um, dang. A little late for your suggestion, Cisco. I called earlier today to clarify something (the form on the back says it is for when the driver is not the registered owner, but I am co-registered owner). So, someone Official has been called and I gave them, at their immediate prompting, my violation ID number. Sooooo…I can’t play the “Violation? What violation?” excuse. I think I’d be bad at that, anyway. I’d be so worried about getting in more trouble that I think I’d rather pay the money and not worry about getting bigger busted.
Ugh, as tough as I talk, I am at heart a good girl ( :::shudder::: ) who doesn’t want to get in trouble. That is so not cool, you know? But it means I will worry myself silly. As it was, I was really upset after that light flashed.
A friend has shared traffic school can be completed online these days, so that makes it easier.
It will make me more careful (read: paranoid) driving. Maybe this is just coincidence, but it seems when I’m pregnant my reaction time and ability to mentally measure space gets honked up. As it is, I’m constantly misjudging doorways and ramming a shoulder into them as I walk through. At least it’s a doorway, and not getting T-boned in an intersection. :eek:
