I received a red light camera ticket in Culver City. Is it worth contesting?

Question

I received a red light camera ticket at Washington and Helms, in Culver City. Its another one of those revenue producers for Culver City, as there is no justification for a camera at that intersection which probably has very few accidents. I was doing 36 miles per hour, not speeding and not attempting to beat any light. The ticket shows I only missed it by 0.12 of a second, in other words around one-tenth of a second. I don't believe a police officer in person would ever have issued a ticket. Is it worth fighting this ticket? Does anyone have experience with this, especially in Culver City? Is it worth buying a book I saw online to fight the ticket? I believe Culver City has one of the greediest policies in the country for bilking its citizens, and espcecially those just passing through. Its a small city with about twenty cameras, and they write parking tickets like you wouldn't believe. What is the best way to fight the ticket, go to court or by mail?

Answer 1

Red-light cameras are designed that they automatically take pictures of vehicles entering the intersection *after* the light turns red. That means that even if the picture was taken 0.12 of a second after the light turned red, you had to have had about 4 or 5 seconds of an amber (yellow) light. At 36 miles an hour you would have had plenty of time to stop before the light turned red. I suggest that you were either going much faster than 36 mph or actually speeded up when the light turned yellow. In either case I would unquestionably have given you a ticket if I were watching that intersection for red/yellow light infractions. You should stop whining that you got caught disobeying the law and be thankful that someone in the cross-street didn't take off the instant his light turned green and T-bone your car. A good driver is prepared for any reasonable eventuallity and knowingly running a yellow light is just asking for trouble.

Answer 2

The camera will show whether or not there was a car ahead of you stopped and holding you up in the intersection after the light turned red. If not, you're on your own, baby.

Is it worth fighting this ticket? Let me ask you this: is it worth getting your *** T-boned by another crazy L.A. driver who doesn't cover his brake as he goes through a green light at far too high a rate of speed just before you manage to squeek by a light that went from yellow to red on you?

If you had respected the stale yellow you crossed the intersection on and stopped instead of gunning it when you saw yellow, you wouldn't have a ticket. Period.

Answer 3

Camera traps aren't legal in CA. Fight it. Plus, they are not 100% reliable. They almost took the camera traps out of Tucson because 40% of those caught were cops and ambulance drivers speeding when not rolling Code 3 (lights and siren.) They can get tickets for traffic violations, Too, if it's not an emergency

Answer 4

Ask them to provide the the times for the light sequence before they installed the camera and at the time of the violation. Pay attention to the yellow cycle. The companies that install these cameras often shorten the yellow cycle to raise the number of violations when the light isn't [paying for itself. They are making the intersection unsafe in order to make money.

Answer 5

It would take all the citizens of that county to go against such behavior. But actually it the cities peracative to place such cameras on their intersections. But sorry for the folks that live there. It sounds like WWII in Germany, where every body knew every body's business. Are we back to those old times?Sad

Answer 6

You should just pay the ticket or if you do fight it you will get in more trouble.

Answer 7

sounds like you are the victum of a speed trap town and you probably wont win but go to court and try to fight it