...of course since the car is registered to me, I'll have to pay it and take the hit on my record. I watched the video and they followed other cars into the left turn on green that turned yellow and changed to red immediately before they entered the intersection. Technically they ran the red, but this kind of big brother thing makes me so damn mad I'd just about shoot it out with them than pay their damn fine. And it costs over twice as much to fight it. Freedom, liberty and justice for all my azz. Big brother and the man can go pound sand. And some wonder why us serfs come to hate the police.

Here a photo ticket doe NOT go on anyones personal driving record. It is a fine assessed to the vehicle and has NO bearing for insurance purposes.

But I feel your pain I HATE the big brother BS too.

So did you figure out which kid is going to be on foot?

Red light camera's and tickets have nothing to do with the police. Its all about money for the city. Nothing more nothing less.

Dink

I understand being pizzed about the ticket, but it doesn't sound like it was a technically illegal move, sounds like a fully illegal move. Also getting pizzed at the man doesn't send the best signal to your kid about being a safe driver.

Y' all know the purpose of traffic tickets don't you?

Y' all know the purpose of traffic laws don't you?

revenue

Nothing to do with the police? Well, it came in an envelope with the police's return address on it, and written on letterhead with the police's name at the top and it's signed by a police sargent with a badge number. But by my read, all this kind of stuff is about money for the city.

My ex-wife got one of those one time, they sent the pic/ticket in the mail in my name because my name was first on the registration, I went before the judge, showed him that it was not me driving at the time, he dropped the charges!

Montana passed a law getting rid of stop light cameras.

Yup. A traffic ticket is a tax and the traffic laws are the laws that justify the tax.

Oh this is not to say occasionally some good doen't come from a traffic ticket but for the most not enough to have traffic laws and tickets.

I would rip it up and throw it away.

It hasn't been properly served. It is not something you are obligated to pay.

The technically comes in that had it not been for the camera you would not be able to tell if he was in the intersection on the yellow or the red. It was truly a photo finish thing by one frame. I watched it several times until I realized it was that close and he ran the red.

I believe my son was probably driving and he has not had an accident or ticket in the nearly 3 years he has driven alone in a fairly large town (Des Moines). I don't think I need to worry about him getting the wrong signal about safe driving because I disagree with the premise of these big brother Orwellian tactics. If you support the same, that's your right.

Where ever you live has a ordinance that says only police can write tickets. Some cities have this changed so court cleks,other city employee's, ect. can sign the tickets. They either make a officer sit watch the video and write the tickets or someone else watches the video and fills out the ticket and officer just signs it.

Dink

This MIGHT help

Seems like a good idea

This kind of stuff does heat me up a little, obviously, as I imagine it does many others. I hope, which is likely ill-conceived, that the city/cops/administrators might come to realize what poor public policy this is and what terrible PR it is for their departments. Of course, that would only matter if they cared and that is highly doubtful in most cases. We are, afterall, merely sheep to be herded and sheared.

Since you have the evidence, make THEM pay, and maybe keep the keys away for a few months.. It's THEIR fault and THEY need to learn a lesson.. Even better, let 'em buy their own car and they can run lights whenever they're feeling rich..

As to the cameras, I can understand both sides.. But go anywhere near Murderapolis/Shot Paul and you'll take your life in your hands when going through on a green... I wish they'd ticket every one of 'em to the point of losing their cars/licenses.. When it's RED, you should be STOPPED..

I'm thinking that it has to be signed by a LEO in order to be a citation.

I'm not a big fan of photo tickets either, but the fact is -- if a LEO was there at the time, you son or daughter would have gotten a ticket because ..... they went through a red light. Ticket cams are certainly about budget, but they only record what happens. They don't make stuff up!

Sorry your kid got caught, but it might be a good thing in the long run. Hopefully they'll come away from it as better drivers.

The only way to make them care is to NOT pay it.

Ricky this my take on red light cameras. If the intersection is so dangerous that it needs to be monitored 24 hours a day why won't the city either hire more police officers to sit on these dangerous intersections or pay one of the officers overtime to write tickets at the dangerous intersections. The money from the tickets written should more than cover the overtime cost.

They tell me I am wrong on this matter too.

Dink

OK, I see that I should have refreshed the screen before blathering on! As Emily used to say on SNL 'Never Mind'!

I mis-spoke: they WILL pay it.

they tried this here but have stop after they found out they couldn't collect the fines, don't remember the legal reason just know they could not enforce it

I imagine the legality of this is strictly state by state and even community by community. I never liked the idea of tickets by camera and certainly still don't. I wasn't even aware they had any in Iowa but sure am now.

Are there any Iowa attorneys who have any information about this around?

I'm not opposed to having my kids pay this based on the principal, but it does stink when it is so razor close as to an is or isn't validity.

Some cities have reduced the length of the yellow light by several seconds to increase revenue. The result has been a huge increase in the number of rear end collisions as drivers hit the brakes.

I lucked out in Portland a couple months ago. I was halfway through an intersection when the guy in front of me decided to make a left without signaling. I got caught by a red as a result. They must not have had the camera turned on as they're famous for tickets in that situation.

Make out a check for the fine, take a picture of it and send them the pic of the check.

Rick...try the case. They're easy cases to win in court. Read the front and back of all paperwork you received. You might even be able to beat the thing by a simple affidavit.

Yeah, I heard of that happening before. Didn't the good-natured cops send them a picture of handcuffs back? Gotta love that dungeon based humor.

I may if I find anything in the law in Iowa that might give me an edge. I see some states require a clear facial picture of the driver. That was not supplied with my info: just a nondescript back of the head shot where you really can't even tell it's a head. If a face pic is required, I win easy.

But if not, or some other loop-hole is not apparent to me, if I fight it and lose they will file a civil infraction that costs 85 bucks in filing fees, assess a court document service fee of an unreported amount, and assess any additional costs if found liable. I'm sure that is in addition to the 75 bucks they claim I owe now.

They certainly know how to stack a deck and deal off the bottom. More reasons to love our government at all levels.

I do see they say at the bottom of the last page they say this is not a moving violation, even though he was moving, and it will not be assessed to a driving record or sent to insurance companies. Just pay the 75 bucks, shut up, and thanks, chump. Legal extortion.

the current traffic ticket scam here has to do with the law that states you have to pull into the other lane, or slow down to 20 mph less than what is posted, if a cop is on the side of the road with another car pulled over.

I agree with the law, and it covers fire/rescue, wreckers and DOT workers as well.

HOWEVER, here, the police have seized on the law to pull bait and ticket scams. They will have one cop on the side of the road with a fake traffic stop. Then they have a number of other cars hidden, and if they feel you did not pull over quick enough into the other lane, or did not slow down enough, they scream out and pull ya over.

I believe the ticket is just over $200, and of course, the cops get the money.

The points go on your license, so your insurance goes up.

Yesterday, between Alachua and Gainesville on US 441, they wrote over 125 tickets in a few hours................

Rick...did someone other than you actually run the red light?? I tell my kids that not running red lights is another way to stop unreasonable governmental intrusion.

Yes, I'm certain my son was driving the car. It was senor skip day and he was late to a breakfast meeting with his class buds. It all falls in place now that I look at the time and the calendar. It's gonna cost him more than a cold breakfast.

this why i believe they stopped trying to collect them here

DAMMIT Sam, the cops DO NOT get the money, the court does and shares it with the county and state. The COPS DO NOT GET THE MONEY SIR!!!!!

Either way, it is still money wasted.

Its all about revenue and milking the social cows.

I don't know if this helps Ricky but by Iowa code you are required to stop on a yellow if it's safe to do so and you are not already in the intersection. I did not know Des Moines was running light cameras but the western suburbs are. I heard Cedar Rapids has both the traffic light cameras and radar speed cameras. My brother in law has been hit with both.
Here is Iowa Traffic code 321.257 para 2 b

b. A "steady circular yellow" or "steady yellow arrow" light means vehicular traffic is warned that the related green movement is being terminated and vehicular traffic shall no longer proceed into the intersection and shall stop. If the stop cannot be made in safety, a vehicle may be driven cautiously through the intersection.

Our judges have decided that if you enter the intersection and the light is green and it changes to yellow while you are in the intersection, you are safe and can continue. If the light is yellow before you enter the intersection you have to stop or make a reasonable attempt to stop. Once fully stopped, you may continue if it's safe and need to clear the intersection. Good luck.

We have a couple of intersections here in Ankeny that need cameras and more enforcement just to video the accidents that we know are going to happen. kwg

PS. Our traffic ticket fines goes to the courts, the state and what's left over goes to the city general fund and NONE goes back to the PD. kwg

dammit Terry, the POLICE DEPARTMENT DOES GET THE MONEY

I did not say that the individual police participating in the fleecing of the rubes is actually putting money in their pockets.

A huge part of local government is paid for with shared ticket money. The issuing agency shares with the State and others. With money in short supply, cops just write more tickets.

I will so advise my children. Of course, nothing like this would ever happen to me.

So where do you think the PD gets their funds from?
That's right, the general fund

I received a red light ticket from an intersection I've never driven before. Turned out it was a different truck with 1 digit different on the license plate. It was also a GMC like mine, but a different year model and lighter shade of grey. The photo of the plate number was grainy and at an angle. They should never have tried to collect on it but they did. Anyways, I ended up talking to some woman in Arizona on the phone of all places, as this was an outsourced collection agency. It was cleared of course, but I hate those d@mn red light cameras and have thought that I had a ticket more than once when going through a yellow light. If I remember correctly, it turns out in that particular municipality, the rule is you won't get a ticket if your tailend is already in the interesection at the time it goes red ... or it might be you had to be halfway through. Not totally sure now. I think this same municipality, or one close to it, did get caught for shortening the transition from yellow to red. I know there are some places where they seem awfully short on that. They're more likely to put you in that awkward split-second decision of either stomping your brakes or goosing it to make it through. Plain wrong in my book. That's the kind of scenario where a decent LEO might use some discretion.

That's a bunch of BS. Those cameras piss me off.

I showed the pictures and citation to my son when he got home. He said he remembered the light that day, thought he got into the intersection on yellow but he would pay the $75.00 without hesitation. He's a good kid.

some states requirre that you have to be positively identified, others do no, some will let you go to traffic school some don't. i would do the school thing and forget about it. make the kids pay

He'll pay the fine. It does not go on anyone's record or get reported to the insurance companies here. There is not an option for traffic school.

Some city got their set up shut down when it was learned the company monitoring the lights had the ability to change the light to red when someone entered the intersection and apparently they were using that option regularly.

Good kid for bucking up, but still I would protest the ticket, per our rights, you have the right to face your accuser, never seen a camera show up and testify.

Not sure if you read this:
I think we'll pay the 75 unless I can find a loop-hole that makes it a slam dunk for me.

I read that someone actually did that. The cops replied with a picture of a pair of handcuffs.

RickyD: Two recient stories come to mind.

The first I read out of Texas, it was in a burb northeast of Austin or Houston. Guy gets a red light ticket, so he goes back and times the yellow light, because under state law it has to be on for so many seconds...well it was short by just a microsecond or two, so he complained and the state highway dept came out and sure enough. Not only was his ticket negated, but several thousands others and the city had to send everyone back the money they paid in fines.

The city of Las Cruses NM smarted around and installed some red light cameras to collect some $$$. They went through the Arizona company which collects a percentage of the fine monies. Problem was the the cams were on state owned highways! So the state wants all of the fine monies collected and Las Cruses can go [bleep] themselve in figuring out how to pay the company their percentage. Needless to say, those cameras are coming down pronto.

I don't know if I agree one way or another about them. Hell I drive so slow, mopeds pass me on a regular basis. But, if your going to get the ticket, there should be proof that you did it.

I think my local government used federal stimulus money to put in those red light cameras.

Like I wasn't pizzed off enough about the stimulus already!!

I'd like to know what jobs that created?

If we have a similar law regarding time for the yellow, it might be worth a try. I'll check on that and might time it. Thanks!

Legalized highway robbery