Red light camera fail

[Zap]

I just got a nice letter from the Gurnee, IL police with some pictures of my car running a red light (right turn lane, rolling the stop) on 1/20 around 3pm.

What's wrong with this picture? (I mean the situation, the actual pictures are really nice and clear.)

 

[Vette73]

Stolen car?

 

[Bignate603]

I think the problem is that you forgot to attach the picture

 

[IronWing]

I'd say it is really tiny.

 

[jlee]

I think the problem is that you forgot to attach the picture

I concur.

 

[SparkyJJO]

It sounds like you were running a red light in Gurnee, IL on January 20th at about 3 PM, and you got a ticket for it.

Sounds like the camera was doing its job and you got caught. (Regardless of how much I hate traffic cameras.)

 

[Tristicus]

You live in Hawaii?

 

[postmortemIA]

how they measure that you were not stopped at the stop sign?

 

[RockinZ28]

Didn't come to a complete stop = running red light.

Don't know how vicious they are in IL, but here in Los Angeles they've passed laws specifically raising fines for that infraction, ends up costing over $400. Ask me how I know .

 

[speedy2]

posting pictures fail. more like it.

 

[Throckmorton]

Oh I see what's wrong. The camera failed to take a picture

 

[rcpratt]

Good thing Michigan doesn't use traffic cameras, or I'd have 187 tickets for rolling through a red light while turning right.

 

[masteryoda34]

You weren't driving the car?

 

[thescreensavers]

No Pic?

 

[SSSnail]

Fight it, say you were turning right. Happened to me once and I didn't have to pay.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Where are pictures?

 

[wirednuts]

Good thing Michigan doesn't use traffic cameras, or I'd have 187 tickets for rolling through a red light while turning right.

i agree. that situation should be yield anyway. it pollutes our planet too much by having to restart from a full stop each time even when its not necessary.

 

[RockinZ28]

i agree. that situation should be yield anyway. it pollutes our planet too much by having to restart from a full stop each time even when its not necessary.

That doesn't generate one million in revenue in a month at one intersection though, mostly from rolling right turns as reported by my former city of residence.

 

[arrfep]

We've got a couple intersections a bit further south in the Wheeling/Prospect Heights area that are f-ing confusing as hell. One is a No Turn on Red with a "Red Light Camera Enforced" sign, but people always turn because (presumably) they think the Red Light Camera is only making sure they stop completely before turning.

The other is the exact opposite. Turning is allowed, but no one ever turns from the right lane on Red because of the multiple Red Light Camera Enforced signs. Couple this with the fact that the camera flashes at seemingly random instances, and I'm pretty sure all IL Red Light Cameras are scams.

As an aside, I wonder if anyone can corroborate this: I've been told that red-light camera tickets are easy to get dismissed, just by swearing that it was someone else driving the car. Since moving-violation tickets are given to the operator of the vehicle, not necessarily the owner, and the burden of proof is on the state to show you were guilty, a picture of just your license plate should not be legally valid. Anyone?

 

[RockinZ28]

They take pics of plate and driver, and a video that you can view online here. Without a clear picture of the driver, they aren't supposed to issue the ticket, but if they do its easy to get dismissed. If someone else really is driving you can claim that and get it dismissed, but I sure wouldnt risk claiming that if I was actually driving.

 

[LTC8K6]

https://www.photonotice.com/

 

[Eli]

https://www.photonotice.com/

Aww damn, it's not public?

That's a damn shame. I was going to amuse myself with idiots doing 35 in 25's. :awe:

 

[Sukhoi]

Well the first order of business is don't reply to the stupid ticket. They can't prove you ever received it in the mail until they send you a letter through registered mail. It's not uncommon for that process to take long enough that by the time you get the registered mail it's already past the ticket expiration and it's tossed out.

 

[LTC8K6]

It's not like it's a real ticket that counts on your driving record though. It's just a civil infraction for which there is a fine. Far better than an actual red light ticket issued by an officer that gets you points.

 

[Zap]

You weren't driving the car?

Bingo. I was driving a rental Civic. My car was at the dealer from 10am-6pm on 1/20 getting a 60k mile service, PCM flash and alignment.

As proof I have my pink carbon of my Enterprise car rental agreement with time/day stamp and my car dealer service order with date and in-out mileage difference of 19 miles and my credit card receipt for when I picked it up at 6pm.

I kind of want to go over there to complain in person, but it is around 20 miles away and tomorrow I'll be short on time - will be leaving town tomorrow evening for 2 weeks to visit my folks.

The documentation I got basically gave 4 options.
1) Pay $100 fine.
2) Claim I don't own car (that it is owned by a company or rental agency).
3) Claim it was stolen (need police report).
4) Request a hearing.

I guess my choice is #4.