General thoughts on Red Light Cameras

First, they're all about the money, not safety. For example, regarding the program in Ventura, CA, the contractor's procedure manual indicates that all potential violations relating to emergency vehicles in a non-emergency status and those relating to vehicles with protected license plates are not processed. If safety was the motivator, these would be processed just like the others because either of these vehicle types can cause an accident just as easily as the rest of the vehicles.

Second, regardless of the actual motivation, they increase rear end accidents while reducing side impact collisions and doing nothing meaningful to the overall safety equation. Regardless of this, cities that choose to continue using them will conduct "studies" purporting to show improvements in safety.

Third, in California at least, the fine is way too high considering the relative seriousness of the offense.

Fourth, many cities maintain illegal contracts within the meaning of the law (in CA it's CVC 21455.5). They employ tricky contract lingo in order to confuse courts on this question. Fortunately, a number of cities have discontinued their programs altogether because the programs are not profitable or represent too much of a political risk without the illegal Cost Neutral provisions.

Fifth, the majority of the revenue generated is sent out of town, with much of it going to the corporate contractor.

For these reasons, and others, these citations should be fought at every turn. This means filing an Informal Discovery Request. It means requesting a Trial by Declaration. It means disqualifying a Commissioner if you appear in front of one. It means using a 170.6 challenge on the first Judge you appear in front of when legally appropriate. It means challenging all of the prosecution evidence when appropriate. It means appealing your case at least to the appellate division when appropriate. All of this takes time, but not a whole lot of it. And it takes very little money, especially when you consider that you might get by without paying any fine at all. I’ve received three of these. They all resulted in not guilty verdicts...two at Trial by Declaration and one in a Court Trial. The last one took eight months...but the look on the City Attorney’s face (who was apparently trying to prosecute the case with no legal authority) made it all well worth it. Well, he didn’t say he was actually prosecuting, but he was arguing and acting like a prosecutor until the judge agreed with me that he had no legal right to do that.

Red LIght Cameras are receiving less and less public support. Some people believe they do help with safety. If you’re one of those, and you ever get a citation, pay it with a smile on your face. The rest of you should consult www.highwayrobbery.net and www.helpigotaticket.com. If you’re willing to invest your time and effort, you can win your case!