What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Following up on a post I made about 10 days ago, I received a red light camera ticket in the mail today. The photo and video does show my front tires just behind the first crosswalk line when the light changed to red. According to the ticket, the light was red for 0.32 seconds before I crossed the stop line.
So I guess my question is, what now? Should I try to fight it, and on what basis? The pictures are clear, and the face in the photo is obviously me.
Does perhaps the fact that I was only late by 0.32 seconds make me a candidate to have the fine reduced?
The ticket says the light was yellow for 3.9 seconds. According to the online video, which is 30fps, the light was yellow for at least 3.63 seconds (109 frames / 30 fps), but it could easily have been longer, as the video starts when the light is already yellow, so there is a good possibility there are some additional yellow frames before. I guess I'd have to do discovery to find that out for sure? In any case, even assuming the very previous frame showed a green light, and the light was only yellow for a total of 3.63 seconds, would it justify my being 0.32 seconds late, since 3.63 + 0.32 > 3.9 seconds?
If I don't fight the ticket, I think it would be wise to at least try and have the fine reduced. How do I go about this? Would I need to set an arraignment in front of a judge, plead guilty, and then ask for a reduction due to financial hardship? Or would I have to do this at trial?
Following up on a post I made about 10 days ago, I received a red light camera ticket in the mail today. The photo and video does show my front tires just behind the first crosswalk line when the light changed to red. According to the ticket, the light was red for 0.32 seconds before I crossed the stop line.
So I guess my question is, what now? Should I try to fight it, and on what basis? The pictures are clear, and the face in the photo is obviously me.
Does perhaps the fact that I was only late by 0.32 seconds make me a candidate to have the fine reduced?
The ticket says the light was yellow for 3.9 seconds. According to the online video, which is 30fps, the light was yellow for at least 3.63 seconds (109 frames / 30 fps), but it could easily have been longer, as the video starts when the light is already yellow, so there is a good possibility there are some additional yellow frames before. I guess I'd have to do discovery to find that out for sure? In any case, even assuming the very previous frame showed a green light, and the light was only yellow for a total of 3.63 seconds, would it justify my being 0.32 seconds late, since 3.63 + 0.32 > 3.9 seconds?
If I don't fight the ticket, I think it would be wise to at least try and have the fine reduced. How do I go about this? Would I need to set an arraignment in front of a judge, plead guilty, and then ask for a reduction due to financial hardship? Or would I have to do this at trial?
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