T2A

If you're worried at all about it just hire a traffic lawyer as others have suggested. Should cost more than $300, much less in some areas. Peace of mind, and a lot less hassle than appearing in court yourself.

der_saeufer

OP, if you're not going to name the jurisdiction that issued the citation (or at least the state, assuming this happened in the US), there is literally nothing useful anyone on here can do for you.

The consequences of a photo red light ticket beyond the fine vary so widely between jurisdictions that the correct answer to the question also necessarily depends on knowing the local laws.

As a quick example, if you got nailed in DC or Maryland, the correct answer is to pay the ticket--it'll cost more to beat it than the fine, and it's basically a parking ticket so there are no consequences besides being out $125 (and you can't fight it based on lack of service). If you got nailed in Arizona, it's a moving violation that might eventually make it to your MVR (depending on where you're licensed) and raise your insurance, so it might be worth fighting (and you could potentially fight based on lack of service)... unless you're licensed in a non-compact state like Wisconsin, outside the US and Canada, etc etc.

nd2010

Pay it. Then throw a big rock at a red light camera near you.
There needs to be a movement to vandalize the red light cameras. Make it so that it'll be cost prohibitive to keep fixing the cameras that get destroyed

Annalisa12

My GPS announces red light cameras. Is that the case in USA?

MissJ

I have to ask... why? Where I live, people are horrible about running lights and I constantly have it in the back of my mind that I may get t-boned by someone doing 45 mph. I'm not talking barely making the yellow, I see people running fully red lights every single day. Yesterday, I was on my way to work and had just stopped at a red. Car in the other lane to my left just blows through it. The cross light was definitely green. If not cameras, local police really need to do something about this. I've heard a lot of hate for red light cameras but I really don't see why. Honest question.

Lost

Naughty Santas giftwrap Tempe traffic cameras | News | eastvalleytribune.com

Yes, if the database is up to date. Here in Phoenix, Waze is about 50/50 accuracy on the fixed cameras.

tentseller

There are add-on that you can get for standalone GPS.
Waze has user added speed traps and redlight camera warnings.

Loren Pechtel

Just make sure that any camera in overwatch can't identify you.

MSPeconomist

Some years ago Philadelphia ran a scam of mailing parking tickets to names chosen at random from the motor vehicle registration list for the state. A bunch of angry people in Pittsburgh got the bills and fortunately some of them could prove that neither they nor their cars were anywhere Philadelphia at the time of the ticket. It was a bit of a scandal.

T2A

There have been a number of studies showing no decrease and in some cases an increase in the number of accidents after installing red light cameras.

http://www.motorists.org/issues/red-...ase-accidents/

They tend to be big money makers for the city though!

DCP2016

I'd say go and fight it, it's a large scam all over the country. They actually disabled them where I am in Florida due to the fact the county had a fight with the provider and the fact they were actually creating more accidents. Many people fight them and unlike when a cop pulls you over, you can't face your accuser in court (the red light camera).

KDS777

In Rio de Janeiro, the residents shoot them in certain districts.

ryandelmundo

What's wrong with identifying the city? It's pretty obvious that they are trying to squeeze additional revenue out of people by ticketing right-turn-on-red as a running of a stoplight. Like you said, its fairly obvious you didn't do anything wrong and the "deputy" in question was just wrong. Let's call this city out and get them to act honestly.

Usually the cities contract with the firm that installs these cameras as a turn-key situation. The firm installs for free, and does all the work, including evaluation of the footage, while the city just gets a slice of the revenue. They don't need to be honest!

This is certainly worth fighting, the question is how. Flying there isn't going to make any difference.

Sending mail to city officials and the local press might get something done. Who knows how many citizens are getting ripped off here by a system that is setup to squeeze revenue out without making anyone more safe.

I'd call a local lawyer and see what s/he can do. There might be the possibility of class-action or possibly some good publicity that they might take care of it for free. You never know!

Let us know what ends up happening.

Loren Pechtel

1) The reality is that drivers aren't bad enough for an honest camera to get enough tickets to pay for itself. Thus either there's something wrong with the situation or the camera is losing money and only remains because of a bad contract with the camera company.

2) The majority of red light camera tickets are written to people turning right on red. Normal right-on-red procedure with a bunch of cars has a high probability of being flagged by the camera. (You stop. When the car at the front of the line turns everyone else moves up. Drivers doing that are moving very slowly and pay no attention to where the stop line is. Unless things happen to line up just right the camera will consider it red light running.)

3) The cameras are deliberately placed with an eye towards situations that cause a high number of violators. Before cameras the answer to a high number of violators at an intersection was to increase the yellow. It works very well at bringing down the number of violators--but now they dial the yellow back to the legal minimum (and often less!) and put in a camera. (Note that speed cameras have a similar problem--they're always placed where the speed limit is too low.)

Note that even without cameras you can see this problem by looking for where the cops run traffic. In my entire driving experience I have only seen cops running traffic where there was some discrepancy between the law and what a reasonable driver would do in the absence of signs. (Or their entrapment of having someone step off a crosswalk at a point where you have to make a very hard stop to avoid crossing the crosswalk they are in, but if you continue on you will be past before they reach your lane.)

aquamarinesteph

I live in an area where you KNOW to wait at least three seconds before proceeding on a green light, because people will be running the red light in the other direction. And I hate red light cameras.

The nearest one is in a town that was once known (realistically or anecdotally) for its speed traps. Now it has red light cameras. I feel stressed driving near their cameras because I know from experience that the yellow light does not stay yellow long enough for a car 30 feet from the intersection to safely cross through before the light turns red. And people slam their brakes on when the light turns yellow because they know there's not enough time to do anything else but hope your brakes are good.

Also, the speed limit before the red light camera is 45 mph. Less than fifty feet on the other side, the speed limit drops to 40 mph. So even if you somehow successfully rush through the light, someone may cite you for speeding on the other side.

So I hate red light cameras.