If you get a ticket from a red light camera, you may not have even realized you ran the light in the first place. You certainly didn’t get stopped, but the camera simply took a picture of your license plate as the vehicle went through. The authorities are now emailing you a request for payment, which could cost hundreds of dollars.
People sometimes wrongly assume that they cannot fight these charges. After all, if it’s on camera, it must be correct. But this is a misconception, and there are some options you can use to try to fight such a ticket.
Maybe you weren’t driving at all
First and foremost, the camera simply takes a picture of your license plate, and then the database checks to see who owns that vehicle. It has no idea who is actually behind the wheel. Maybe your car was stolen. Maybe you loaned it to a friend. Maybe your significant other was driving. There are plenty of reasons why you may not actually have been driving your vehicle, but you are now getting the ticket. In fact, there have even been cases where vehicles being towed on the back of a flatbed have been ticketed because the flatbed truck itself ran the light.
The image is too blurry
Another thing to consider is that the camera could have made a mistake. Perhaps the picture of the vehicle is blurry, and it’s not even clear that it’s a picture of your license plate. It could just be a car that is a similar make and model.
Certainly, your defense options are going to be unique to your situation. But this gives you some idea of how you can fight any type of allegations, so you need to know about all the legal defense options at your disposal.