Got a surprise in the mail from one of our local law enforcement agencies. Evidently one of the red light cameras snapped a shot of my truck as it was going through a red light. It took a while to compute as I have not been in that area in months and this happened last week. Then it hit me that my truck was being driven by one of the dealerships technicians while out on a test drive.

The ticket pissed me off but not half as bad as the fact that technician had such little regard for the safety of my truck.

Yes a call was made and the information passed on the Service Manager. The dealership has always treated me fairly it is just this technician that has got me ticked off. We will see what happens on Monday when I get the call from the S/M.

I tried to contact the police department but the division that handles citations was closed. This will have to wait until Monday as well.

 

At least it was your truck, we got one in the mail from New Jersey, for a toll booth violation, wasn't within 200 miles of there. They didn't have the right vehicle , one letter was hard to read and they sent a bill to me for a volkswagen in the picture, and we had an intigue. Took about 5 letters to correct, and still not sure it is fixed yet.

 

I went to court last week and If the pic of the driver wasn't you they were dismissing the ticket .You had to to court though ...

 

That really sucks!!

Philly put up traffic cameras on a few intersections on a highway called "Rooselvelt Blvd" 2 of the intersections that have the cameras where labeled #2 and #3 of the most dangerous intersections in the country.

Well the red light cameras made it worse. Accidents are up at these intersection, mainly rear ending accidents (I personally saw 5 cars all rearending each other here) and on top of that, if the guy in front of you runs a red light on a right turn, they ticket the car behind the volitor because that can read the plate.

I have that spray stuff on my plate. It works

 

I received a ticket (via snail mail) for not paying the toll on the North Dallas Toll Road; right license plate number (2009) but on a Honda van; my '68 wagon has the same number plate, but it's a '68 plate (licensed as a Classic). Called the toll road authority, and the (very) stupid person I spoke with said doesn't make any difference, pay the ticket, or they will put out a warrant for my arrest!!!!!! Fincaly got so upset w/her, told her to go ahead and book it. Called the State of Texas, and got a registered letter (copy of one sent to the Toll Road Authority, an oxymoron) stating that this wasn't my Classic '68 Flat Top Wagon in the picture, it was a late model Honda van, and to cease and desist bothering me. I mean this woman was really stupid. Look at the picture!!!!!!!! She was DUM, w/o the B!

 

Don't even want to know what dealership.....Man it sucks to be accused of something you didn't do.

On the bright side, I'm sure that you won't be out of pocket for anything on this. When you took your truck in for service, you had to sign the work order to authorize the dealership to access and work on your car. This would make them responsible for anything that happens to it - including road testing - until you pay for it and pick it up. You also have to sign it out, right? The sign out date should also be time stamped to prove your case.

I also would be P.O'd at the mechanic. sounds like he needs a closed loop driving track, or they should be checking his license to see if it's still valid. The police generally don't care who's driving. They automatically issue the citation to the vehicle owner. If the dealer principle has been good to you before, they should stand behind you now. They should also issue a letter of explanation to the police AND insurance company to show that THEY were responsible for this violation and take responsibility. I would double check that the insurance company gets the letter, otherwise they tend to automatically look at you as a different risk category. The way I see it, in their eyes, you're guilty until proven innocent.

 

How a traffic camera violation is handled varies by state. First, most take a picture from the rear, so it is not possible to identify the driver. Second, in most jurisdictions, the owner of the car is guilty until proven innocent.

Read that again, then complain to your elected officials.

Here in DC, Warren Brown, who is the automotive reporter for the Washington Post, wrote about receiving a camera ticket. He had proof (plane tickets, credit card receipts, witnesses) to prove that he was out of town on the weekend that his vehicle was photographed. It didn't matter. It was HIS responsibility to provide proof of who was driving, or else he got the ticket. At the time he had allowed some workmen at his house to use his truck and was unable to tell the police which of the workers had been drivng (see the part about how he was OUT OF TOWN at the time!).

Didn't matter, the law as written specified that the owner was at fault unless he or she provided proof that someone else was driving. Apparently the loophole that gets around repealing the Constitution is that the fine is a civil penalty, not a criminal one, and the burden of proof is not as stringent. That, and the fact that (at least in the DC area) camera violations are a fine only - no points are issued.

As an aside, there was an article in the Wash Post just the other day about how, now that people know where the cameras are, they slow down at the camera locations, resulting in a dramatic drop in the number of tickets and thus revenue from tickets. At least the truth about traffic cameras finally comes out.

 

anybody remember a few years ago the red light camera pics of that kid in denver doing burnouts in his 442?

he got spanked hard

 

I'm not going to mention which dealership as they have always treated me fair. I also understand that a business has to trust that their employees are acting in the best interests of both the company and customers. But you know as well as I that every company has a few employees that will bend the rules as they please.

As far as the work order goes, I do have a time stamped copy showing that my vehicle was not ready to be picked up until the following day. The dealership should know who was at the wheel as they informed me that when an employee operates a customer's vehicle on public roads or when they work on it they have to check it out and it is logged into the service history of the vehicle.

 

Bingo. These things have never been about safety no matter what the fuzz, city government, NHTSA et al try to tell you. They are about revenue, pure and simple.

At one time local governments in Virginia had to have special permission from the General Assembly to install the things. Two years ago they passed legislation to allow any locality in the Commonwealth to put them up anytime, anywhere in their jurisdictions. That was the same year the azzholes passed that abusive driver fee legislation that ended up costing a few of them their seats, but the redlight cameras didn't get the press the abusive driver fees did.

I have a great aunt who hasn't been farther from home than Richmond in nearly fifty years. She got a redlight camera ticket from DC a few years back and took us months to get it straightened out. Finally had to get the 5th District Virginia congressman involved. His letter and personal visit to the DC traffic people worked though.

 

I was told that this will be a fine only and not considered a moving violation? This is because they cannot prove who was operating the vehicle. They are just fining the owner of the vehicle for the infraction.