Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Is This Running a Red Light or Revenue Raising?
On September 29, at the intersection of 1st and Rhode Island Avenue N.W., my car crept into the crosswalk at 14 MPH. The automated red light camera recorded me as a red light runner, and MPD sent me a $75 ticket, due by November 15. Should I pay the ticket or challenge it?
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4 comments:
Just wondering, if there was a pedestrian crossing and you went through the crosswalk at 14 MPH, would you have hurt the pedestrian? If yes, then you should probably pay up, if no, then you can try to contest it. Besides full on crashes, I would think pedestrian safety is often used as a justification for those cameras, no?
Hi Cristina,
It appears my post did not clearly indicate my speed. The ticket notice states 14 MPH, which presumably is based on the average speed between the first photo and the second... By the time I reached the crosswalk, I was probably going five miles per hour...
I guess the defense here is that there was already a car stopped in the crosswalk. I probably misjudged the "stop line" because of where the other car was already positioned. On the other hand, if I pay $75, maybe I'll be more careful to look for the line.
The broader question here is how good a job has the District done of informing people that one wheel in the cross walk = a red light violation? I can afford the fine, but others cannot. They deserve notice of expectations by some means other than a fine.
Kris
I've had this happened to me on ny ave. Who ever is mailing these out should have to look at the pic and actually see if you went thourgh the intersection, which you did not, so I would contest it.
You went a full car length past the "stop line" into the crosswalk, as photographic evidence shows. The only way the car could "creep into the crosswalk" by itself is if you don't have control of it. YOU did this, not the car.
Suck it up, admit your guilt, and pay the fine, like any real man would do.
And if you're wondering: Yes, cars CREEPING into the crosswalk is very high on my pet peeves list. Besides being unsafe, it's quite illegal, as you now are aware of.
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