I am no fan of red light cameras. Well, let me restate that. Unless you can put a red light camera in every intersection, you are not applying the law equally. Worse, the ticket prices are exorbitant. We are talking upwards of $500. Add traffic school fees and the money that the actual traffic school charges, you could be looking at over $700. I hope you know that I am not suggesting that you do not follow the law, however these tickets are a mostly a money making scheme for cities and counties across USA.
I happened to receive a ticket in Fremont on Mowry and Farwell. I decided to challenge it and paid my $500 fine and asked for a court date. You also have the choice to do a trial by written declaration. I suggest that you not do that. After paying my fine and requesting a court date, I received a notice with a date and a place to appear at the Paseo Padre Court. My strategy was to plead guilty and ask for a reduced fine and traffic school.
When I arrived, the court clerk had posted the defendants list on the wall and very politely explained the process to everyone. He opened the court doors on time and asked all the defendants to be seated. A few minutes later a portly gentleman walked in. He was the public defender. A nice, polite gentleman who went about his business setting up his laptop, managing his file folders while whistling away to his favorite tune. Upon completion of his what seemed like a daily routine, he faced the defendants and went on to explain who he was and his role in the court proceedings on that day. A retired police detective, he went on to explain that his job was to verify the evidence of the camera and attempt to match the photo with the drivers license of the person who owned the vehicle.
He carefully explained that there will be at least 4-5 defendants who he will recommend that the judge dismiss their tickets because of either photo's that were unclear or other evidence that led him to believe that there was not enough merit in the case for it to proceed.
He then proceeded to call out names of the folks who were going to be presented in front of the judge and allowed them to review evidence that he had on his laptop on a DVD. This went on for about 10-15 minutes and then he called out the names of 5 people who he asked to step outside the courtroom in an alcove. He went on to explain that all 5 of us were going to be recommended for dismissal in front of the judge and he wanted us to step out so that the rest of the folks in the courtroom would not feel bad (what a nice guy).
The court began it's session and the first 5 people to be called were the ones being recommended for dismissal and the judge agreed to all of them. I received my dismissal papers and while waiting I heard a couple of cases being presented. Here are my key learnings:
I happened to receive a ticket in Fremont on Mowry and Farwell. I decided to challenge it and paid my $500 fine and asked for a court date. You also have the choice to do a trial by written declaration. I suggest that you not do that. After paying my fine and requesting a court date, I received a notice with a date and a place to appear at the Paseo Padre Court. My strategy was to plead guilty and ask for a reduced fine and traffic school.
When I arrived, the court clerk had posted the defendants list on the wall and very politely explained the process to everyone. He opened the court doors on time and asked all the defendants to be seated. A few minutes later a portly gentleman walked in. He was the public defender. A nice, polite gentleman who went about his business setting up his laptop, managing his file folders while whistling away to his favorite tune. Upon completion of his what seemed like a daily routine, he faced the defendants and went on to explain who he was and his role in the court proceedings on that day. A retired police detective, he went on to explain that his job was to verify the evidence of the camera and attempt to match the photo with the drivers license of the person who owned the vehicle.
He carefully explained that there will be at least 4-5 defendants who he will recommend that the judge dismiss their tickets because of either photo's that were unclear or other evidence that led him to believe that there was not enough merit in the case for it to proceed.
He then proceeded to call out names of the folks who were going to be presented in front of the judge and allowed them to review evidence that he had on his laptop on a DVD. This went on for about 10-15 minutes and then he called out the names of 5 people who he asked to step outside the courtroom in an alcove. He went on to explain that all 5 of us were going to be recommended for dismissal in front of the judge and he wanted us to step out so that the rest of the folks in the courtroom would not feel bad (what a nice guy).
The court began it's session and the first 5 people to be called were the ones being recommended for dismissal and the judge agreed to all of them. I received my dismissal papers and while waiting I heard a couple of cases being presented. Here are my key learnings:
- Never pay a traffic ticket from a red light camera outright. In my case, my photo was blurry but I was not sure if that would matter. So had I paid my ticket, my case would have never been dismissed and I would have paid $500 plus traffic school fees for no reason.
- Right turn on red is one of the easiest ones that the judge will either dismiss with a warning or reduce the penalty significantly (as witnessed by me in the courtroom), additionally the right on red is a zero point violation so no need to go to traffic school and waste your time and money.
- Ask for reduction in fine. This will succeed almost always unless of course you blatantly jumped the light with your middle finger pointed at the camera.
- The Fremont court is friendly and the court clerk and the detective were extremely polite and helpful (red light camera court). I am not sure if these folks are always there or not. Your mileage might vary and please don't write to me complaining if you ran into a someone who was not as I described.
