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Old 12-11-2010, 11:00 AM
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ilbegone ilbegone is offline
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Have you checked out the National Motorists Association? http://www.motorists.org/ I believe it is directed more towards a general national concern rather than specific towards individual states, and it seems more focused on speeding tickets with a sprinkling of other more common allegations of infractions, but I found it helpful.

I found some other interesting information as well from other sources.

For example, some municipalities have tried to use Red Light cameras in an apparent bid to ratchet up revenue, but by the time the contractors and courts are paid their cut, it's a loss. Some cities have built a quota into the contract, but provable quotas are illegal in California - so a red light ticket charge might be dismissed on those grounds. As well, there has been some municipal demand for more tickets concerning right turns on red light, but that falls under the quota scheme.

I understand there's a scam utilized by various police departments or other official "parties of interest" when the driver's face in the photo isn't clear and the citation won't stand in court. They send something to the registered owner which could pass for an official citation with instructions not to contact the court, a "bail amount", and where to send a check to pay the fine. I would ignore that myself.

There was something on the news the other day that red light cameras might even contribute to accidents - it seems there is an increase in rear end accidents when a driver, fearing the camera, slams on the brakes when the light turns yellow and the tailgater behind him trying to beat the red light doesn't have room to react and stop.

Months ago, I read something in the LA times criticizing red light cameras. As I recall, it seems that the cameras were hastily placed in a random fashion without regard to addressing the worst intersections and cost way more than they were bringing in, and that the cameras didn't measurably decrease accidents.

About thirty five years ago my parent's car was totaled in an accident and the insurance company sent it to the junkyard. A couple of years later, they were receiving parking tickets concerning several separate incidents through the mail from a city over 200 miles away from their residence on that vehicle. I believe someone illegal transferred vehicle identity to another (probably stolen) vehicle and left it registered in their names. So, when a relative's car was totaled a few years ago I removed the license plates from the vehicle at the towing facility when we retrieved the possessions from the car. I don't know how the parking tickets were resolved concerning my parents all those years ago.
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Last edited by ilbegone; 12-11-2010 at 11:12 AM.
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