Red light camera ticket but the driver is not in the country!!

[krivs]

So' I'm having a situation that I received a red light camera ticket on April 11, which violated on April 5 when I visited Northern Cali.( I live in Southern Cali) And now the ticket was issued to my father (a court ticket), who has not been in the country since January, 2009. So as I know that I need to file a trail by Declaration, so by doing that do we have to pay the bill first ( cause I made a call to court today and the person said I either need to pay the bill to file a trail or I need to identify who the driver was or to pay the ticket), is that right? Or do we just simply submit the letter and and the proven documentation like my father's driver license and passport stamp? So in this situation, how do we write in behave of my father to address the situation that my father is not the driver, thanks.

 

[JIMinCA]

YOU do not have to do anything. YOU did not get a ticket... your dad did. All he needs to do is file the TBWD with a pic of his drivers license and passport. He does NOT have to declare who was driving. He only needs to defend the charge brought against him. You should NOT intervene in any other way. You are not a party to this action.... don't act as if you are.

 

[I_Got_Banned]

So' I'm having a situation that I received a red light camera ticket on April 11, which violated on April 5 when I visited Northern Cali.( I live in Southern Cali) And now the ticket was issued to my father (a court ticket), who has not been in the country since January, 2009. So as I know that I need to file a trail by Declaration, so by doing that do we have to pay the bill first ( cause I made a call to court today and the person said I either need to pay the bill to file a trail or I need to identify who the driver was or to pay the ticket), is that right? Or do we just simply submit the letter and and the proven documentation like my father's driver license and passport stamp? So in this situation, how do we write in behave of my father to address the situation that my father is not the driver, thanks.

Your dad has to file his own TBWD. You can't do it for him.
You do have a few options though, you can request an extension if your dad is returning soon; you can have an attorney appear on his behalf or he can print the form off the internet, complete and sign it, mail it to you and you can file it in court assuming that can happen before the deadline given to do so.

You can get forms TR-200 (instructions) as well as form TR-205 (which is the statement your dad will have to complete and sign) here http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/forms.cgi.

All your dad would have to do is show that the picture of the driver (you) does not match that of the registered owner (him) by submitting a copy of his license or passport and the charge should be dismissed.

Additionally, he would have to post the bail amount at the time he makes the request for the TBWD. If he is found "not guilty" then that amount is refunded to him. Otherwise, the court keeps it as payment for the fine.

Lastly, he does not have to disclose the identity of the actual driver shown on the citation. At least, not in California.

 

[krivs]

Just update, that we made a phone call to the red light camera company, and they said my father is required to identify who the driver was, this is really hilarious hes not even in the country how can he IDENTIFY who the driver was, and then they asked we send my father's driver license, passport visa copy, and see if they need more information. So should we do that?? or we should just ask my father to send those documentation to court directly?

 

[davew128]

And you called the traffic camera company why exactly? You were given sound advice already. Why are you not following it?

 

[krivs]

We haven't received the courtesy notice containing the bail amount so we cannot file a TBD yet.

So i figured calling wouldn't hurt...would be easier to resolve this issue without having to pay bail first.

 

[I_Got_Banned]

We haven't received the courtesy notice containing the bail amount so we cannot file a TBD yet.

I don't think you will receive a courtesy notice with red light camera tickets. And your dad cannot file a TBWD because he has not requested it.

So i figured calling wouldn't hurt...

Probably not...

would be easier to resolve this issue without having to pay bail first.

It doesn't work that way and that was mentioned previously... But then again, you were already told that this is NOT your ticket and that there is nothing that you can, should or are permitted to do and yet you're still saying "we haven't" and "we cannot"!

Pretty respectable of you to wanna help your dad but to the court, and acting in a legal capacity (as in filing &/or signing documents on his behalf) is not a joke nor would be looked at as being "helpful".

 

[krivs]

Your dad has to file his own TBWD. You can't do it for him.
You do have a few options though, you can request an extension if your dad is returning soon; you can have an attorney appear on his behalf or he can print the form off the internet, complete and sign it, mail it to you and you can file it in court assuming that can happen before the deadline given to do so.

You can get forms TR-200 (instructions) as well as form TR-205 (which is the statement your dad will have to complete and sign) here California Courts: Forms.

All your dad would have to do is show that the picture of the driver (you) does not match that of the registered owner (him) by submitting a copy of his license or passport and the charge should be dismissed.

Additionally, he would have to post the bail amount at the time he makes the request for the TBWD. If he is found "not guilty" then that amount is refunded to him. Otherwise, the court keeps it as payment for the fine.

Lastly, he does not have to disclose the identity of the actual driver shown on the citation. At least, not in California.

So by saying that does that mean he cannot do anything now until he receives a bail that indicates how much the he needs to pay for TBWD ?

 

[I_Got_Banned]

So by saying that does that mean he cannot do anything now until he receives a bail that indicates how much the he needs to pay for TBWD ?

When I say "Bail" I don't mean "bill"!!!

So, no... He can contact the traffic court clerk, tells them he wants to do a TBWD for a Red Light Camera ticket, they will tell him how much the Bail is, and if he is able to pay then over the phone, then the clerk will send him the proper forms for him to complete and the deadline date by which he has to file his TBWD statement by.

Or, if he has access to the internet where he is, and depending upon which county the violation was committed in, he should be able to go to the courts website, search for the citation, select the TBWD method, pay his bail and he will receive the proper forms in the mail.

Also... Wasn't there a fine amount on the original citation he received in the mail? The one which has your picture driving...

The bail amount the court will require when he requests TBWD will be equivalent to the amount of the fine. He pays that to the court and after the judge reviews the TBWD statement and decides the case, the judge will either order the bail to be refunded (if he's found not guilty) or he will set the fine and the clerk's office will apply the bail amount to payment of the fine (if he's found guilty).