Ignoring is bliss: Why Virginians can safely discard red-light camera tickets

(Note: The contents of this post are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact a lawyer.)

Amid great government fanfare and greater public disdain, Albemarle County recently activated the area’s first photo red-light cameras. Ironically dubbed “PhotoSafe” by County government’s internal public relations machine, the camera installations are touted as a program to “improve traffic safety” and reduce accident fatalities:

Each year, nearly 1,000 fatalities in the United States are the direct result of red light running. This is a serious problem in Albemarle County as well.  During the three year period of January 2006 to January 2009 there have been 177 crashes at the Route 29/Rio Road intersection alone, 22 of which were attributable to red light running.   Across the nation communities are reducing the number of deaths and injuries from red light offenses by 20 to 50% by installing red light cameras.

While red-light cameras’ contribution to driving safety is dubious at best, many instead are classifying the installations as a revenue-generating device for cash-strapped Albemarle County government.

Not referenced by the county in their introductory press release, are the legal rights of Virginians and the legal obligations of issuing governments under the new PhotoSafe red-light camera system.

Exclusive to The Schilling Show Blog and News, the National Motorists Association (NMA) has released a white paper entitled: It Can Be Expensive Not Knowing Your Rights When Facing A Virginia Red-Light Camera Ticket

The NMA asserts that under Virginia law:

“…the recipient of the mailed photo ticket can ignore the mailing without consequence…”

They add an important caveat and a warning—not to respond to mailed tickets—in order to preserve ticket recipients’ rights:

“If the recipient acknowledges receipt of the ticket in any way to an officer of the court, the photo ticket is considered valid and the defendant is legally required to appear in court on the return date of the summons.”

The Association concludes its editorial with this advice for potential red-light camera citation recipients:

Many Virginia motorists can save the costly expense of a red-light camera citation by ignoring a photo ticket not handed to them personally. Typical approaches by municipalities to coerce a response, and therefore a waiver of the state’s personal service requirement, include mailing the ticket to the vehicle owner’s home address or tacking a copy of the summons to the owner’s door. Don’t fall for it.

Read or download the NMA’s advisory in its entirety:

It Can Be Expensive Not Knowing Your Rights When Facing A Virginia Red-Light Camera Ticket

A Guest Editorial by the National Motorists Association November 4, 2010

Fifteen states prohibit the use of red-light and highway speed cameras. Virginia is not among them. But Virginians have a legal protection that only one other U.S. state (Arizona) grants, a right that Virginia municipalities do their utmost to circumvent to maximize ticket revenue. The irony is that this right is exercised by simply doing nothing after receiving a Virginia photo ticket in the mail. If you respond to the mailed citation, you end up waiving that legal right.

Let’s stop here for a second. Many people are opposed to contesting a traffic ticket, figuring that they wouldn’t have been charged with the violation if they didn’t deserve it. So why try to avoid paying a Virginia photo ticket? It may help to understand that there are several questionable aspects of red-light camera programs, including several violations of basic due process rights. Here are a few:

• Ticket cameras cause an increase in traffic accidents
• Needed intersection safety improvements are deferred in order to maintain ticket revenue
• It is hypocritical to claim that ticket cameras are all about safety, not revenue, despite overwhelming evidence that such programs are shut down after becoming unprofitable
• Several due process rights afforded to defendants are trampled, including:

o   Ticket recipients are not promptly or verifiably notified

o   The driver of the vehicle is not positively identified

o   The vehicle owner is presumed guilty until proven innocent, regardless of who the driver was when the camera flashed

o   There is no certifiable witness to the alleged violation, someone who can be questioned and challenged in court

With that backdrop of seriously problematic issues surrounding the use of red-light cameras and of the stacked deck that faces photo ticket defendants, let’s return to that additional due process right afforded defendants by Virginia law. §15.2-968.1, Use of photo-monitoring systems to enforce traffic light sig- nals, of the Virginia State Code says the following in paragraph G about the defendant’s rights after a photo citation has been mailed:

“If the summoned person fails to appear on the date of return set out in the summons mailed pursuant to this section, the summons shall be executed in the manner set out in §19.2-76.3. No proceedings for contempt or arrest of a person summoned by mailing shall be instituted for failure to appear on the return date of the summons.”

In other words, the recipient of the mailed photo ticket can ignore the mailing without consequence. (An important caveat: If the recipient acknowledges receipt of the ticket in any way to an officer of the court, the photo ticket is considered valid and the defendant is legally required to appear in court on the return date of the summons.)

Critical language from §19.2-76.3, Paragraph C, drives home the point that Virginia requires personal ser- vice — the actual in-person delivery of the citation to the defendant — for a photo ticket to be considered valid and enforceable:

“No proceedings for contempt or arrest of any person summoned under the provisions of this section shall be instituted unless such person has been personally served with a summons and has failed to appear on the return date contained therein.”

Many Virginia motorists can save the costly expense of a red-light camera citation by ignoring a photo ticket not handed to them personally. Typical approaches by municipalities to coerce a response, and therefore a waiver of the state’s personal service requirement, include mailing the ticket to the vehicle owner’s home address or tacking a copy of the summons to the owner’s door. Don’t fall for it.