This is not legal advice.

Avis uses American Traffic Solutions to bill fines incurred during rentals. At least on the East Coast they do, and since ATS is in Phoenix I don't know why they wouldn't cover your ticket also. I have two email addresses for them:

[email protected], and
[email protected]

I've gotten parking tickets in the past (admittedly easier to handle than your red light ticket situation because I've had the citation number, so not perfectly analogous) and I've sent an email like this to both emails, also copied to Avis via online form:

They sent an auto-responder confirming receipt. When they later billed me for the tickets anyway, and I contested the charges with my credit card company, this correspondence was sufficient to win the dispute even though they answered affirmatively with my rental contract. YMMV.

See if you can get the local news to do something, try the bay area's ABC-7 (KGO-TV) and Michael Finney's "7 on your side" I think CBS 5 (KPIX) has something similar.

Well, an update 'sort of' on my ticket... 45 days have passed, and so far, nothing about the ticket that I'm almost sure I got photo'd on.

Instead, what do I get in the mail? A big envelope from Avis claiming I DAMAGED the car, complete with repair estimates, photos of the damage to the front bumper of the car, and a demand for payment for the repairs and loss of use.

This was of course totally ridiculous. I inspected the car prior to leaving the lot when I picked up the rental, and I inspected the car upon drop off, with the agent who gave me my check-out. We walked all around the car, and the agent looked inside the vehicle as well.

The damage they are showing me from the pictures ... NO WAY it could be missed by anyone walking by the car. the entire front bumper is totally scratched up, the license plate is ripped off, etc. It looks like the car rear ended an object or rubbed against a fence or something sideways.

Amongst the items Avis included in the envelope is a statement by an employee (I think a checkout agent) that "customer left before agent noticed damage". This damage is substantial enough that there is ZERO chance it could be missed.

I immediately called up the Avis claims dept. They demanded I pay. I told them no way, and if necessary, I would be going to court. I left the car with them without damage. I spoke with a supervisor who reluctantly agreed there is no way a reasonable person could have missed the damage with any level of inspection, and agreed to close the case out. I will be anxiously awaiting the confirmation of this matter in the mail.

If its not one thing, its another I guess.

Thanks for the progress report. Sounds like you'll be okay, but write back if they didn't really close the case out.

I had the same issue with national!

Got a smartphone? Video record the walk around at pickup and dropoff. Include the checkout/checkin employee saying their name and date.

Do you do this every time you pick up and return a rental car?

I always try to...but mostly use still photographs rather than video.

I might try doing both next time...

I've never used my phone for video, but I've never had use for video before. I'm sure I could figure it out, but I would think that just taking pics would be good enough, at least I'd hope so. But then I have never had a charge for damages after the fact either.

Here's a good story about a similar case in Arizona. It's important to note that things vary greatly by state.
http://photoradarscam.wordpress.com/...o-enforcement/


Basically though, at least in that case, the rental car company (Payless) bills you for the ticket + $50. If you end up fighting your ticket and winning, you can pursue a refund of both charges.

Back to red light cameras, around where I live, they take two flash pictures if you violate. The first is to show you behind the stop line with the light red and the second is beyond the stop line (plus there's video). Obviously the first one does not mean a violation has occurred, just that it thinks you might violate. A picture of you beyond the stop line with the light red means nothing on its own hence the need for the before picture. It's almost impossible to make a legal right turn on red without getting the before picture taken.

Out of State Ticket
 

I received a red light camera ticket in Tucson where I live. They tried to serve the court paper every other day 2 weeks before the court date. I did not open the door. They must have dropped the case because I did not received anything for 2 months. A few of my friend avoid paying using the same strategy in Arizona.

It is going to be harder for them to serve you and I don't think they are going to because you are out of state.

If i were you, I would report lost of my credit card so that Avis cannot use your credit card to pay the fine. If I can beat a local red light ticket, you should be able to beat an out of state ticket. $400 is a lot of money and CA need you to help their budget problem.

TY

I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY, nor do I play one on TV.

First, I do not know what the law is in Arizona, but in most states, it is not necessary to serve someone for a motor vehicle moving or parking violation. That means, someone MIGHT have been trying to serve you for something you were not aware of.

Second, again, I do not know what the law is in Arizona, but in Florida and several other states, if repeated attempts for service are not successful over a certain period of time, there is something called alternative service. In Florida, and some other states, after repeated, attempted, in person, unsuccessful service, the party bringing the lawsuit has the option to publish notice of service in the legal newspaper of record for a certain period of time. In Florida, I'm not sure, but I think the time period is 60 days, after which time the law suit is considered fully served, and the case can proceed. Of course at that point, if you do not file an answer within the allowable period of time and/or appear at the first hearing, you will lose by default, and a judgment will be entered on the court records and then recorded against you. So, if I were you, I would not be so proud of avoiding service, and also, it would be a good idea for you to contact an attorney to find out what might have happened, and what the lawsuit was about. Every state is different in some ways, but there are many similarities too. I am not giving legal advice, I am giving common sense advice, and I hope that it works out for you.

I've never had a camera flash for right-on-red. They way they typically work is that they're actually speed cameras. If you're approaching the stop line at 50 and the light is red, the system assumes you're going to run it and takes the two pictures. For right on red, unless you're really squealing your tires, you shouldn't be going fast enough. There's some sort of minimum speed before the picture is taken.

However, it sounds like the OP has a whole 'nuther issue to worry about, the bogus damage charges. This comes up a lot, unfortunately.

I know Houston was putting in cameras that would get you for a RoR if you didn't make a full and complete stop at the redlight before starting again to make your turn. I've seen signs in TN intersections (intersections where they have redlight cameras) that read: "Right turn on red ONLY after stop." I presume they have the same/similar setup as Houston.