Some things aren't worth incessant moralizing. This is a simple economic question, as the original post suggested. Only you know what your time is worth, and have some additional details from this thread on the probability of success. Whatever you choose, it won't really matter in the long run anyway.
Automated law enforcement systems make me uneasy for reasons that should be obvious - and brutal honesty is a principle I try to subscribe to - but these are different discussions.
^ ^ ^ Whether to respond asking for a mitigation hearing may well be an economic decision, but whether to commit perjury, i.e., driver denying that he was the driver, is a matter of ethics. Forbearing from committing perjury is not "incessant moralizing." Indeed, IMO it's not moralizing of any sort. It's a matter of ethics. There's a difference.
A couple of things to note:
(1) Per RCW 46.63.170(1)(d), the camera cannot legally take a photo of the driver's face so this might be an issue one way or another; and
(2) Per RCW 46.63.170(1)(h), the intersection had to be marked as a red light camera area for at least 30 days prior so this might also be an issue.
striving to stand like mountain yet flow like water, and make the dogs happy
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striving to stand like mountain yet flow like water, and make the dogs happy
I can confirm from personal experience that signing the statement that you were not driving the car ends the matter; but in my case, I actually wasn't driving the car (my wife was). So there was no perjury dilemma for me. So it depends how you feel about lying to disobey an unjust law (I don't think that people should be forced to pay fines under threat of criminal prosecution based on an automatic, potentially error-prone reading of a machine). As an attorney, I wouldn't risk it for the slight chance I could be caught and potentially destroy my career. But guilt would have nothing to do with it. Another important consideration is that, as mentioned, this does not go on your driving record, so the only financial downside is that one-time ransom payment to the private company that runs this racket.
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