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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Red Light Ticket After Running a Light to Avoid an Accident

    My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California

    Hey guys, first post here. I'm looking for some advice on how to fight this Red Light Ticket I got.

    The story:
    I was driving through an unfamiliar part of San Francisco on my way to work. Coming up to an intersection, I was in the right lane which began to merge to the left (merge began before intersection and ended after). Normally this would be no issue, however next to me was a large flat bed construction truck with a car tailgating it very closely. I needed to merge over and the stoplight had just turned yellow (truck was stopping). I did not have enough to room to stop in my own lane between the truck and the sidewalk, nor did I have enough time/room to slow down and merge behind the truck due to the car tailgating it, so my only real option was to go in front of the truck and through the intersection. Of course, right as I enter the intersection the light turns red and I see the flash of the red light camera go off. I missed the light by 0.4 seconds according to my notice.

    Can any of you kind folks share some advise on how to go about fighting this?

    PS my court date is tomorrow afternoon (!). I've simply been too busy to deal with this until now.

    Thanks guys and gals!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    806

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    You don't fight it. You learn to drive (or step up and pay the fine when you get caught). If you are unable to merge (remember, when merging, YOU yield, not the other way around) due to heavy traffic, you need to stop in your lane and wait until there is an opening to merge into. You can't just run a red light. There was not an "immediate" threat of accident requiring you to break a traffic law. Go to court and pay the fine.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    Quote Quoting PADriver13
    View Post
    You don't fight it. You learn to drive (or step up and pay the fine when you get caught). If you are unable to merge (remember, when merging, YOU yield, not the other way around) due to heavy traffic, you need to stop in your lane and wait until there is an opening to merge into. You can't just run a red light. There was not an "immediate" threat of accident requiring you to break a traffic law. Go to court and pay the fine.
    I did not have enough room to come to a stop and wait to merge. The truck was too wide (and driving right on the lane line between our two lanes) to allow me enough room between it and the curb to come to a stop when considering the speed and movement on the truck. I was not speeding, and had the car not been tailgating the truck I would have been able to slow down and merge behind.

    Does this change anything or do you still think I should just pay the fine? It seems as if I was in a situation where I could either very likely have an accident with the truck or proceed through the, at the time, yellow light. I feel I made the safest decision, but I am here for advice on the situation.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    Quote Quoting sobe6545
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    I did not have enough room to come to a stop and wait to merge. The truck was too wide (and driving right on the lane line between our two lanes) to allow me enough room between it and the curb to come to a stop when considering the speed and movement on the truck. I was not speeding, and had the car not been tailgating the truck I would have been able to slow down and merge behind.

    Does this change anything or do you still think I should just pay the fine? It seems as if I was in a situation where I could either very likely have an accident with the truck or proceed through the, at the time, yellow light. I feel I made the safest decision, but I am here for advice on the situation.
    No, it doesn't change anything.

    You might not have been exceeding the speed limit but you were certainly driving too fast for conditions.

    Many have posted here claiming that the reason for breaking the traffic law was because they were compelled to do it for safety reasons. That's hogwash and judges don't buy it.

    Pay the fine or go to traffic school if you are eligible. You have no defense here.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    You were in a right turn lane. If that lane was controlled by the same red light, it is nobody's fault but your own that you did not slow when the light turned yellow such that you could stop before entering the intersection. If you could have lawfully turned right without stopping, then that would have been what you should have done instead of cutting in front of the truck and running the red light.

    I'm not one to say "Just pay the fine" as, particularly if your driving record is good, you can often negotiate a deal for a reduced ticket or in some cases even for a dismissal (perhaps on payment of costs); If you can reduce or eliminate the impact of a ticket on your driving record and auto insurance, why not try? But from what you've said so far, I'm not seeing any legal defense to the ticket should you go to hearing. There's also the traffic school option, if you qualify.

    The red light camera ticket is predicated upon your going through a red light, not a yellow light. If the pictures and video show something different, please elaborate.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    Thanks for the responses. Based on what you've all said I think I'm just going to pay the fine and take traffic school. It was a tricky situation in an unfamiliar area, and I may have been a bit rushed to get to work. I'll be sure to be more careful next time. Thanks again.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    1,055

    Default Re: Ran a Red Light in Order to Avoid an Accident, Got a Ticket Via Red Light Camera

    Quote Quoting sobe6545
    View Post
    Thanks for the responses. Based on what you've all said I think I'm just going to pay the fine and take traffic school. It was a tricky situation in an unfamiliar area, and I may have been a bit rushed to get to work. I'll be sure to be more careful next time. Thanks again.
    I'm guessing your date is arraignment, not trial, unless you've already posted bail some time ago. If it's arraignment, go online to your local court website or call the clerk and see if you can get an extension of arraignment. If it's your trial date, you can try but you'll probably not succeed.

    There are ways to fight but a time of .4 is something of a problem. If the intersection has incandescent signals, you can argue that the red light had not reached full intensity and therefore was not a "steady red" signal as specified in the vehicle code. You can sometimes verify this by looking at stop frames of the video online at photonotice.whatever.

    If your date tomorrow is for arraignment, your can request Trial by Written Declaration. Then, later, if you have the time and energy, you can see your actual evidence in your case file.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Red Light Ticket After Running a Light to Avoid an Accident

    Sobe,

    You may have thought you came to a site that was provided for people sharing advice about legal defenses. So, the series of lectures on what a bad driver you are may be a surprise to you. Don’t let it get you down. There are several people here who mistake this legal help site with the condescending lecture site all the time. Lecturing seems to be easier (and more self-satisfying) than actually helping for some people.

    If your court date is for tomorrow, that’s just an arraignment. You haven’t blown your chance to develop a defense. All you will do tomorrow is plead guilty or not guilty.

    First questions: Is this ticket in your name? Are you the registered owner of the car? Is the picture associated with the ticket clearly a picture of you? Was your ticket from Los Angeles? Are you going to a Los Angeles court?

    Answer these questions first before you go to your arraignment.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: Red Light Ticket After Running a Light to Avoid an Accident

    I'm sorry, the correct answer is you waited too long to make a decision on how to handle the impending situation and because of this driving error ran a red light. Why did you not stop in the merge lane, wait for the light to change and the other lane to clear before continuing instead of running the light after your error?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Red Light Ticket After Running a Light to Avoid an Accident

    Quote Quoting Jim_bo
    View Post
    Sobe,

    You may have thought you came to a site that was provided for people sharing advice about legal defenses. So, the series of lectures on what a bad driver you are may be a surprise to you. Don’t let it get you down. There are several people here who mistake this legal help site with the condescending lecture site all the time. Lecturing seems to be easier (and more self-satisfying) than actually helping for some people.

    If your court date is for tomorrow, that’s just an arraignment. You haven’t blown your chance to develop a defense. All you will do tomorrow is plead guilty or not guilty.

    First questions: Is this ticket in your name? Are you the registered owner of the car? Is the picture associated with the ticket clearly a picture of you? Was your ticket from Los Angeles? Are you going to a Los Angeles court?

    Answer these questions first before you go to your arraignment.
    Yes, just an arraignment. To answer those questions: Yes, the ticket is in my name. No, I am not the registered owner of the car. Yes, the picture is clearly me. No, the ticket is from San Francisco and I will be going to court there.

    Quote Quoting donzoh1
    View Post
    For the high and mighty (who think the fine should simply be paid) I have the following suggestion: Next time you catch yourself 5 over the limit or not signalling or not completely stopping, drive over to the nearest police station and tell the first officer you see that you're making a citizen's arrest of yourself. Tell him or her what you did wrong and then sign the citation. If this doesn't work, look up the bail amount, fees and assessments for your violation and donate it to the Police Benevolent Association or the 11-99 Foundation.

    For the OP, I might suggest my earlier post on 12/30/14. Read the case decision thoroughly, understand it, print it out. While this would not be binding in your county, it could be persuasive, assuming your Police Department uses the same deficient practice that we see here in Ventura County.
    What would be the benefit of the citizens arrest? I will take a look at that post too, thank you.

    Quote Quoting Disagreeable
    View Post
    I'm sorry, the correct answer is you waited too long to make a decision on how to handle the impending situation and because of this driving error ran a red light. Why did you not stop in the merge lane, wait for the light to change and the other lane to clear before continuing instead of running the light after your error?
    As I mentioned above there was not room for me to stop in the merge lane due to the truck. There was little warning of the merge approaching the intersection.

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