Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > worth it to fight red light ticket (on camera)
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iron
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iron
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 2:27 pm 
got one. boo. normally not my MO but was dealing with an unhappy kiddo and opted for a slight run of a red light. is it worth my time to fight it? perfectly clean record otherwise.

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Chico
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 4:04 pm 
No idea really. Judge might not go for the distracted driving excuse by the wee one. But then again maybe you'd get a break. Look at it this way. Cost of the ticket versus time off from work or other expense involved in taking the time to go to court etcetera.

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iron
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 4:22 pm 
multiple photos of car + plates. no pics of drivers. not sure that is a valid excuse: uh, we lent the car to a friend who lives out of state...

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iron
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 4:51 pm 
personal experience?

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JPH
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 5:10 pm 
Are you going to deny that you were driving, or just make excuses about what happened? The tickets don't go on your driving record, they are treated like parking tickets. Probably easier to just pay it and move on with your life.

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Stefan
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 5:33 pm 
I have three cars in my name and only my name. I have a wife. I have a daughter. Each of them have driven through a red light and got caught on camera. Each time I have written on the citation that it was not me who was driving. Each time I have the ticket dismissed. This is how red light cameras are: Red light camera tickets are not against the driver....they are bad things that your car has done.

Art is an adventure.
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Randito
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 6:09 pm 
The cost of the ticket vs the cost of fighting the ticket is only one consideration -- the other is what might happen to your insurance costs with a moving violation on your record. If you want to fight it effectively. https://www.mucklestone.com/

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Chico
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PostTue Dec 05, 2017 7:48 pm 
Know that if you were fighting something more serious, murder as an example, and you came here looking for advice on how to fight it, the prosecution will be scouring the internet, come across the thread and maybe put two and two together, get a court order to get your real name and use what they found against you. Long sentence, I know. But nowadays they tend to check your on line profiles. The whole shebang or enchilada.

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Adohrn
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 12:55 am 
Different cities have different rules. Example in Portland the driver and car have to match. From personal experience from a few years ago I know this to be true. Sent the ticket back by mail and said not me, and the ticket went away. I’am most certainly not a 70 year old woman but good try. There may have been some familiar resemblance, but I have no clue who it was. However the newspaper said in Hillsboro a city outside of Portland the car gets the ticket not the driver. So you have 2 choices give up the other driver or pay the ticket yourself.

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Chico
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 2:10 am 
There have been problems with the same plate numbers but different state. Local tolling issues comes to mind.

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cdestroyer
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 9:05 am 
what a bunch of wimpy hypocrites! dozens of postings on this forum complaining about people doing the 'right' thing and here the op confesses to running a red light and now wants to 'fight it'! what if they had clipped someone? buck up, pay the ticket and admit to the mistake!!

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altasnob
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 9:58 am 
RCW 46.63.075 says that for red light cameras (or speeding cameras) that there is a presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the driver of the vehicle without any additional evidence (so the court does not have to "prove" you were driving as others have stated). In other words, if you are the registered owner, you are considered the driver on the date of the infraction. This presumption can be overcome "only if the registered owner states, under oath, in a written statement to the court or in testimony before the court that the vehicle involved was, at the time, stolen or in the care, custody, or control of some person other than the registered owner." So, as Jeff and Stefan have suggested, if you lie under oath to the court that you were not driving (when in fact you were) and commit felony perjury, yes, your red light ticket will get dismissed by the court. Here is Seattle Municipal Court's form that they use when someone swears under penalty of perjury that they were not the driver: The good news, as others have pointed out, is that RCW 46.63.170(2) says, "[i]nfractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety cameras are not part of the registered owner's driving record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120." So in other words, the county/city makes money off the red light camera tickets but insurance companies do not. Your insurance company will not be aware of this ticket and cannot use the ticket as a basis to increase your rates. For this reason, it does not make much sense to hire an attorney (and pay $150-$300 to the attorney) to fight the ticket when worst case scenario, you have the pay the full amount of the ticket (with no insurance rate increase). For infractions other than camera infractions, yes, it makes sense to hire an attorney because if committed, your insurance rates can go up. If you are guilty of the camera infraction, you can always request to mitigate the ticket in writing (read your infraction, it should explain this option to you). For mitigation, you are admitting guilt, and will be found guilty, but provide information to the judge that the judge will consider to reduce the fine. Judges typically will reduce the fine by 25-50% if you ask to mitigate. And you can mitigate by mail so you do not need to go to a court hearing to do so. If you are curious, WAC 308-104-160 lists the infractions in Washington that are considered "moving," meaning if found committed, they will appear on your driving record.

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uww
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uww
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 10:30 am 
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Adohrn
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 11:22 am 
I personally have no sympathy at all for these traffic cams and the cities who use them. They are mostly run by private companies who rig the lights. I don’t remember the stats, but it was something like let’s say the average yellow light was 5 seconds which allows 90 something percent of the people who hit the light as it turns yellow time to exit the intersection before it turns red. After the traffic cams the yellow was set to 4 seconds which lets only 70% to exit before it turns red. Lots and lots of tickets and revenue for the city, but for sure a crooked situation. So before anyone gets to upset about right and wrong you might want to do a little investigating.

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altasnob
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PostWed Dec 06, 2017 11:29 am 
Yes, traffic camera infractions are a massive money maker for cities (as are parking tickets). If this upsets you I encourage you to contact your local state representative and encourage them to pass a law making camera infractions illegal. Right now, the majority of Washingtonians apparently think camera infractions are a good thing. Also, if a driver enters an intersection when a light is yellow, and it turns red while the driver is already in the intersection, you have not committed an infraction.

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