Lights, Camera, TICKET!!!

[ArizonaG35]

Here in Arizona we have an abundance of photo radar traps that will sneak up on you at a moments notice... in the past few weeks, I have noticed the radars flashing at people and catching them speeding just to gain revenue for the city of Scottsdale... I'm kind of opposed to this practice as I feel it is entrapment, but this is just my opinion. I'd like to hear your guy's thoughts on this...

Question: I'm considering getting a personalized license plate that reads "0D0D0D0" as it is my understanding that the photo radar sometimes has difficulty deciphering between a "0" and a "D", plus... from a distance it will look like I have just all 000000's on my plate... can anyone confirm if this "D & O" trick will work or am I just being a DODO? (Pardon the pun)

OPINIONS APPRECIATED!

[Kenrik]

I don't know about D0D0D0

But

B8B8B88B

Works.

[audtatious]

Sounds like someone needs to send an eMail to Myth Busters

[Fenvy]

it is doubtful

4 years ago here in califonia I have gotten one of those.

Few weeks later I got a letter in the mail showing black/white printing of 4 photos: 1 overview, showing how fast I was going, 1 close up on my face, 1 close up on my front license plate, 1 close up on rear license plate. They were next to crystal clear.

I say just drive normal or take off of your license plates altogether and say it's stolen if you're pulled over.

[zozoka1212]

There is an easier way. They have to catch you in the car to give you a ticket right. That's the reason why police chase so important part in the states. So Take itto the court and say I had a friend visit me that day from Mexico. I landed the car to him and he was driving it. Soorrrrryyyy. make sure you using sunvisor.

We have traffic cameras in Canada also some places. The guy works for me got a ticket ran a red light. I told him the same. They let him go no fine at all. I think the same apply to you guys in the States.

You are inocent till it is proven othervise!!!

Zozoka

[AddictionG35]

I wouldn't believe that ANY of them will work. If any of you have seen the episode of MythBusters where they put all kinds of ways to try and beat those cameras nothing worked. They tried putting things over the plates like those plastic covers, curved covers, lenticular covers, cellophane wrap, speeding so fast that maybe it would not snap it in time, changing lanes very fast, no matter what the pictures where perfectly clear. So I don't think that would fool it, I'm sure that the shutter speed is so high and the picture quality of the units that they tested on was so high, that I am positive anyone would be able to make out the difference between an 8 and a B or a 0 or O and a D. In fact the only way they were able to beat the camera was by installing a flip switch for the plates like on the Transporter, which is HIGHLY illegal. I wouldn't risk it, I would just make a mental note of where they all are and slow down around them.

[fosterelli]

In Portland we have a lot of photo radar and photo red light systems in place.

My wife received a photo radar ticket in the mail. The pictures are perfect; one of her face, one of the front plate, one of the rear plate, etc.

You can try to contest that you are not the one driving...you must have sufficient evidence that the photo is not you...

The best way I've seen to prevent the ticket is to purchase the license plate covers that distort the view of your plate from side angles. Because these photo units typically sit on the side of the road they cannot effectively pick up your plate's numbers/letters. From head-on your plate looks normal.

I don't use these...but I've seen them. Google them if you're interested. They also make spray-on aerosol coatings to accomplish the same thing.

http://www.phantomplate.com/

[J-Owner]

We have these cameras as well in Texas and especially in Dallas. They are putting them up everywhere.

I do not have a plate on the front of my car. You are suppose to here in Texas as it is illegal if you don'r have one and they can ticket you but I don't care I am not putting one on the front.

Anyway, I got one of these back in April '07, of course I didn't the ticket in the mail until end of May but it showed me in the intersection on red, one of back plate and close up of back plate.

Here in Texas the citation reads that it does not matter who is driving the car, the ticket goes to the person the car is registered to and they are responsible for paying no matter what.

I paid mine as the pictures were crystal clear and it would have been difficult to fight. I should have known not to run the light at that intersection anyway as I should have known there would be a camera there but I wasn't thinking. Luckily it was in Dallas Proper, the tickets are only $75 but in Plano they are $150. So it could have been worse.

[zozoka1212]

The guy who works for me had only licence plate pictures. That sucks man.

Zozoka

[joe603]

You can try, but like the others said...it's doubtful that it will help. I guess the only option is don't speed or pay the price of admission...

http://dsc.discovery.com/beyon...13704

[C-Kwik]

Not that this gets you out of said ticket, but you have no requirement to show up to court for one of these. They can not issue a failure to appear since you did not sign anything...Though, they can bring up the charges at a later time should you be in court for another reason.

Secondly, When these were first being implemented, it was suggested that if you showed up to fight one of these tickets, noone would be likely to show up on the prosecution's side. Not sure if that is still the case. However, I do wonder if any of the equipment used has been established in any court yet. By this, I mean that each court must go through a trial in which a certain piece of equpment is proven in court to be accurate and under what conditions it is accurate. This usually doesn't happen early in the service life of any type of equipment as they usually have to wait until it is challenged in a trial and they have to be motivated to actually bear the expense of trying the case. The third stipulation is the defendent will actually need to be willing to challenge it to it's full extent should the prosecution decide to proceed. There is actually a legal term for this, but it escaped me at the moment. But here is a link to a couple of articles that gives some idea about this in regards to photo-enforced tickets...

http://www.highwayrobbery.net/....html

http://www.highwayrobbery.net/...l.asp

[Fenvy]

I have actually seen the other side having someone show up for prosecution

[ArEs23x]

In Portland we have a lot of photo radar and photo red light systems in place.

My wife received a photo radar ticket in the mail. The pictures are perfect; one of her face, one of the front plate, one of the rear plate, etc.

You can try to contest that you are not the one driving...you must have sufficient evidence that the photo is not you...

The best way I've seen to prevent the ticket is to purchase the license plate covers that distort the view of your plate from side angles. Because these photo units typically sit on the side of the road they cannot effectively pick up your plate's numbers/letters. From head-on your plate looks normal.

I don't use these...but I've seen them. Google them if you're interested. They also make spray-on aerosol coatings to accomplish the same thing.

http://www.phantomplate.com/

has anyone in here tried that spray there advertising in that link...i wonder if it actually works..because if so..im willing to try it out since its not too cost effective and it looks promising..any advice from anyone?

[Beancooker]

We have all sorts of photo radar here as well. Get a radar detector. The radar sprays constant, so you will know it before you get there. Works for me.

[Onslaught31]

They have some of those here in Florida, and as of August 1, they also enacted red light cameras (which I agree with marginally more because running reds is realistically dangerous, as opposed to speeding). But the only stuff I know of that works is the spray coating (link below). It works so well the local news actually did a story on it (cause that won't encourage anyone else to do it ). People in florida use it on their plates so they can run the E-Pass toll lanes. It works by creating a reflective surface on the plate, so when a camera flashes, the flash reflects too much off of your plate, and burns that part of the image out. It only works on flash cameras though, I know florida ones flash, dunno about others.

https://www.phantomplate.com/s...cat=1

I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than both a custom plate, and a speeding ticket so I'm gonna try it out first, and test it with my own camera before I do 145 mph past a speed camera In combination with my Cobra radar detector, I'll be unstoppable

[ArEs23x]

We have all sorts of photo radar here as well. Get a radar detector. The radar sprays constant, so you will know it before you get there. Works for me.

I spent $500 on my radar detector and I bought it online because its supposed to be very high end with satellite feed..even with it I still got a speeding ticket..ppl thought i was dumb because why did I buy it in the first place if I cant avoid it lol..dumb cops thinking they could guess your speed with no radar gun..thats how he got me..his eyes lol..i was only going like 72mph on the freeway with a speed limit of 65mph...i think its profiling cuz i didnt deserve it cuz there were a lot of other cars passing me while he was pulling me over..aint that BS!

[Beancooker]

Dear God, I hope you fight that ticket. The ones where he can "tell" how fast you are going with his eyes are the easiest to get out of.

http://www.jesbeard.com/29ab.htm

Refer to section S-12.

It would be easy to break that cop in court, because 7mph is impossible to tell by the eye.

I have an Escort Passport and it has saved me a lot of $$$. They would have all been 5-10 over the limit tickets, but the insurance rate hike is what I don't want.

[C-Kwik]

Dear God, I hope you fight that ticket. The ones where he can "tell" how fast you are going with his eyes are the easiest to get out of.

I agree. While it is fine for officers to visually estimate speed as in many cases, it can be easy to see thast someone in speeding. The officer does need to have someway of corroborating his opinion by use of radar or pacing.

[BigWill]

Not that this gets you out of said ticket, but you have no requirement to show up to court for one of these.

That is not entirely true. While it may be true that the original summons you get in the mail is not an actual ticket, a real summons issued from the court will follow. I got a red light camera ticket in Garden Grove last year. It was the result of a video that was triggered by me not stopping for the required amount of time behind the limit line before proceeding to make a right turn on a red light. (Which I did totally safely, I might add). The first notice I received in the mail was from the company, based in Arizona by the way, that installed, and maintains the cameras. I was able to watch 12 seconds of video online of myself doing a "California rolling stop" at the light... with VERY clear detail of me, my car, and my rear plate.

Like most who get these, I was pissed!! The thought of an inanimate object busting me at something, which under normal conditions, required an officer to witness the act for a ticket to be written, really burned. I read the "highwayrobbery" site as well as a couple of others. I even called a local attorney who claimed to have a 98% success rate fighting these kinds of tickets. The technology is new, and is still being tested in court... there are a few ways to beat them on technicalities, however, it requires that you be dedicated to the fight. The attorney told me that he could almost guarantee to get me acquitted, but it would cost me $2,500 for him to do it. It is not the type of fight that many people can do themselves successfully because of the amount of time and resources required. For me, weighing the difference between about $350 in fines, and a few hours of traffic school to keep it off my record, vs $2500 for an outcome that was not guaranteed, yielded an easy decision... and that is the rub. The court knows that the majority of the public will not fight them, so they will continue to stuff the city coffers with our dollars resulting from the fines.

There is a website online that will tell you the statistics of a given automated radar camera in a given area. Those devices generate SO much revenue for the cities that it is highly doubtful that they will ever be found to be unconstitutional. On the contrary... I am sure that they will become the norm. Not only do they generate a huge amount of money, but they don't require a trained, hourly paid officer to be there to see you do the deed.
Modified by BigWill at 3:09 PM 8/14/2007

[00blackout]

I doubt the AZ DMV would let you have that plate anyways, they are hella picky on personlized plates.

[kidistight]

We have all sorts of photo radar here as well. Get a radar detector. The radar sprays constant, so you will know it before you get there. Works for me.

Lucky you radar detector's are illegal in VA.

I spent $500 on my radar detector and I bought it online because its supposed to be very high end with satellite feed..even with it I still got a speeding ticket..ppl thought i was dumb because why did I buy it in the first place if I cant avoid it lol..dumb cops thinking they could guess your speed with no radar gun..thats how he got me..his eyes lol..i was only going like 72mph on the freeway with a speed limit of 65mph...i think its profiling cuz i didnt deserve it cuz there were a lot of other cars passing me while he was pulling me over..aint that BS!

Good luck in court that should be a pretty easy case to win. I love going to court and fighting the officers, I have to be in court next week for 48 in a 35. Cops think that the plastic badge and cap gun make them above the law but it really doesn't. I will present all my facts and put it in the judges hands. I love to temp cops by going 9 over the speed limit, they get behind me to try intimidate me but it doesn't work. Go get a real job officer, or go do something good for the community instead of harassing people getting to where they need to be.