Redflex Corruption

[Jim]

I got a ticket in the mail yesterday. Here is the "evidence" against me. If I were doing 79 in the 65 as claimed, I would have been in the trunk of the car in front of me. I am car #2 behind the truck. A car from Colorado is passing me, and he may have been going 79, but I don't know. If he was, it looks like I got his ticket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH3NTQrE12k

AZDPS and Redflex are clearly lying about the quality control they claim to do, and they have no problems sending a ticket to an innocent victim to help tighten the budget problem and fatten the corporate profits. If they looked at the videos as they claim to do, I never would have gotten this.

Something tells me I am not the first person to whom this has happened. Is anyone interested in starting a class action lawsuit against a company which gathers evidence for the state without a private investigators license, and has profit as its motive behind "law enforcement"?

[big_load]

WNBC (NY) reported tonight that American Traffic Solutions has reached a $4.2M settlement in a class-action lawsuit regarding excessively short yellow lights in the 18 NJ towns where their red-light cameras are deployed. The average fine was listed as $85, and supposedly 500,000 tickets are covered by the settlement, so it's about 10 cents on the dollar, less after the lawyers take their cut. ATS does not admit guilt or liability in the settlement.

[hikeaz]

I once got a parking ticket for a street I had never driven down, let alone parked on, at a time it would have been physically impossible for me to be there. (That, or I would have had to drive 115mph for two hours, each way to do it.) It was dismissed ... plz:

Lucky they did not add a SPEEDING ticket......

WNBC (NY) reported tonight that American Traffic Solutions has reached a $4.2M settlement in a class-action lawsuit regarding excessively short yellow lights in the 18 NJ towns where their red-light cameras are deployed. The average fine was listed as $85, and supposedly 500,000 tickets are covered by the settlement, so it's about 10 cents on the dollar, less after the lawyers take their cut. ATS does not admit guilt or liability in the settlement.

"The Texas Transportation Institute concluded in 2004 that yellows shorter by a second than the ITE recommended amount generated a 110 percent jump in citations. The vast majority of those extra violations happened within the first 0.25 seconds."

To add insult to injury NJ also has a 'Governor issue' when it comes to these surveillance cameras - it would be interesting to ascertain how much dough flowed into his election coffers from these crooks.
So this illegal 'tax' on these (presumably) otherwise law-abiding folks raised over $42 MILLION but it cost ATS just $4.2M. when they finally got their hand slapped? .... Hell... even a Gub'ment worker could figure out how good a deal THAT is for ATS. No.. WAIT.. it's all about S-A-F-E-T-Y. Seriously.. is there anyone out there still drinking that Kool-Aid?

[Sredfield]

Does not speak well for "privatization" of government duties.

[azbackpackr]

Just a heads-up for those of you coming up to the White Mtns. with the warmer weather. Cameras still in Star Valley area (past Payson on 260), BOTH DIRECTIONS. And camera is still on US 60 as you are coming into Show Low from Salt River Canyon. (Can't remember if there is one on 260 approaching Show Low, but there might be.)

[hikeaz]

Update from Tempe:
January 14th, 2013 - "Tempe has finalized all issues with Redflex and that the parties were signing the paperwork next week. I anticipate the poles will be removed in less than 60 days, possibly much sooner.

Cathy Bowman
Tempe Assistant City Attorney"

(note: the cameras have been inop since July 2011, removed off the poles August 2012) - this (above) merely pertains to their obligation to return the multiple pole 'yard art' blight on any of the affected corners to its pre-camera condition - Can you believe it? A year-and-a-half....)

Well there's the gub'ment "less than 60 days, possibly much sooner" and there's the 60 days that apply to we taxpaying sods...... (Have you ever been late on a sales tax payment to a city?)
My latest update from Tempe gub'ment .....where the AVERAGE city employee makes over $100,000.00 a year + benefits. That's average.

May 28, 2013 -

Barring any conflict with other roadway projects the Redflex removals are scheduled for May 30th – June 7th. (Note that no YEAR was mentioned in her note)

Catherine M. Bowman - City Attorney

[azbackpackr]

Well, you still need to watch it in some areas. Specifically, when you are driving into Show Low!

[paulhubbard]

I just received my "Welcome to Star Valley, now pay us $210" letter... I know without doubt that I was obeying the speed limit, as I saw the radar and looked at my speedometer to be sure. Yet they say I was going 60 in the 45 zone. How do you argue that?? It's my word against a mechanical device. I'm probably going to contest it, if nothing else it will give me an excuse to go back to the rim country.

What a bunch of doo-doo! :tt:

[azbackpackr]

I slow down to 40 mph at the Star Valley camera. Always. And also the one going into Show Low. I don't trust those things. I have a CDL and can lose my license over a speeding ticket.

[chumley]

I just received my "Welcome to Star Valley, now pay us $210" letter... I know without doubt that I was obeying the speed limit, as I saw the radar and looked at my speedometer to be sure. Yet they say I was going 60 in the 45 zone. How do you argue that?? It's my word against a mechanical device. I'm probably going to contest it, if nothing else it will give me an excuse to go back to the rim country.

What a bunch of doo-doo! :tt:

Radar often bounces off the largest object, not necessarily the closest. So if there was a truck, rv, 5th-wheel, etc. behind you (even half a mile back) the reading could be from the vehicle larger than yours. Ask to see the photographs and hope there's something larger than you in the background. (Especially if you were on your bike -- even a Mini Cooper would bounce the signal back better than you!)

[paulhubbard]

Radar often bounces off the largest object,

Problem is these units use the speed detection sensors in the roadway. I love the snippet in the disclaimer that reads, "A video is recorded at a predetermined time before and after the violation." Like they know in advance that you're going to speed through the zone?

Ask to see the photographs

The photos clearly show me from the front and my license plate from the rear. They're so isolated that you can't even see the passenger side of my truck. I'm hoping the video will show another vehicle going faster than me, otherwise I can only tell them that we were NOT speeding and the devices must have gotten a false trigger - My fiancee will also attest to the fact that we BOTH saw the zone and 'coasted' through it at or below 45mph to be sure we were okay.

[Jim]

I refer you back to my OP for this thread. I received a ticket in the mail with a link to a video that clearly showed me traveling in the right of 2 lanes, behind a semi and in a line of other cars, all the while being passed by a green car which I remember had Colorado Plates. In order for me to be traveling at the speed claimed, I would have been in the back of the truck, or all of the other vehicles would have been going the same speed as me. So, I wasted time going to court twice and had the charges dropped by the prosecutor when the Redflex loser didn't show up. I still wish I could have shown the judge or prosecutor the video.

I think one of the biggest problems, is there does not appear to be any penalty for these automated camera companies, if they falsely or wrongfully accuse someone. Even when using their own video which can often exonerate someone, they seem to have no recourse for blatantly lying. What reason do they have not to do so? It costs them nothing for you to pay it, to take off work and show up in court (where they basically never do) and they have everything to gain for just lying and saying you were speeding. I have never heard of these companies being fined large sums as a punitive measure for all the "accidents" they have made, tickets for vehicles parked in garages, tickets clearly not of the named person or vehicle, and so on. Where is justice against these obviously incompetent and corrupt for profit "law enforcement companies"? Even in RoboCop (1987) when the for profit OCP was corrupt, you could at least trust the Robo Cop. He did have a human brain though.

[paulhubbard]

Hmmm, thought I posted a response to this already, but don't see it? I looked high and low on the docs for a link to the video, but couldn't find one. I suppose I'll ignore the ticket for now, since everything I'm finding on the law books and the web says the any judgement levied against you is void without personal jurisdiction. That means they have to serve you - The first notice is just that, nothing more than a "notice."

However, one misconception may be that you have to be served within 120 after the violation or the charges will be dropped. Actually, after the first court date (on the notice) passes, then the court files the "official" action to have you served by a process server, and THAT'S when the 120 day counter starts. If you're not served in the 120 days, the ticket is dropped.

However, you must be diligent in watching the status http://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/publica ... eSupport=1 since the process servers often lie about actually delivering the summons, and if they report to the court that it was delivered, apparently the courts believe them.

As I see it, the worst case about ignoring the first notice is that you may get summoned and have to deal with it anyway (and I'm still going to fight it if that happens.)

[Tough_Boots]

until they serve you, its only a "complaint" created by a private firm. It's meaningless. I ignored a bunch in Tempe before they eventually stopped their photo-radar program.

[beterarcher]

My Dad ignored one in PV and it went away.

[chumley]

I've ignored all mine. And since I'm never home it's very difficult to serve me. Though I did answer the door once for a process server attempting to serve my roommate for a photo citation. I told him he no longer lived here and I didn't have a forwarding address. That one ended up dismissed too.

[chumley]

Of course google indexes this forum which means the NSA now knows I admitted that so I should probably shut up now. At least it's impossible to figure out my vehicle registration from my HAZ username. Oh wait...
;)

[SpiderLegs]

I'm 60 days into waiting out the process server for El Mirage. So I don't open the door for anyone right now. But I read somewhere that El Mirage has so many tickets to serve that they will typically go after multiple offenders first. Only have one ticket and the address on my license is a PO Box, so I like my odds.

[paulhubbard]

Star Valley probable depends more heavily on that revenue stream, unlike the major cities around here who issue thousands of "tickets" and hope for a meager ROI. I'll let everyone know how it plays out.

[outdoor_lover]

I had one in Phoenix and managed to avoid everybody for 90 days....That was a year ago.....

[sneakySASQUATCH]

@paulhubbard
Star Valley is basically an incorporated town/ speed trap. The guy that helped put the speed cameras on the 101 retired up there and is in charge of their speed trap. I got a ticket several years ago and went to traffic school in Scottsdale and out of the 50 people at the class 12 were from that one Star Valley Camera. Even the instructor thought something fishy and corrupt is going on up there. I talked to the previously mentioned guy personally and commented that when I went back through Star Valley, that the speed limit signs preceding the warning sign were much smaller and questioned him as to whether there was a federal or state size requirement for signs. The next time I went through Star Valley the speed signs were the same size as the others. :-