red light cameras

[C3PO]

San Francisco, Ca.,

I recently ran a red light in San Francisco, Ca. by only a half of a second. The car is registered to my father who passed away a year ago, and the ticket was given to him. The ticket was addressed to my father, but my mother is now the owner of that car. Is my mother required to reply regarding the ticket? Also, if my mom replies, is she required to give the police information indicating that I was the person driving the car? I've heard that the fifth amendment protects against her giving the police any information.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by C3PO

San Francisco, Ca.,

I recently ran a red light in San Francisco, Ca. by only a half of a second. The car is registered to my father who passed away a year ago, and the ticket was given to him. The ticket was addressed to my father, but my mother is now the owner of that car. Is my mother required to reply regarding the ticket? Also, if my mom replies, is she required to give the police information indicating that I was the person driving the car? I've heard that the fifth amendment protects against her giving the police any information.

The 5th Amendment protects her from incriminating herself - not others.

Different jurisdictions have different ways of trying to "encourage" owners to 'fess up to who the driver was. If she does not tell them who the driver was it may be that nothing will happen. However, it's also possible that her car could be seized as evidence (not likely, but it is one option I have heard of), or that the city will use other tactics.

In generally, they aren't going to be able to force her to say who was driving. But it may cause a lot of problems in not doing so.

The state of the currently is that they have to go after the driver and not the registered owner, and the state has to show that the person charged was driving. I believe that will change in the next couple of years to permit placing a lien on vehicles or assessing the vehicle owner with a fine. But, currently, that is not the case.

It's up to her.

- Carl

Your mom will need to do something about the ticket - otherwise she will begin getting nasty letters from a collection agency.

She can go to an arraignment and tell the judge there that the person to whom the ticket was sent is deceased, that she is now the owner and responsible person, and that she was not driving the car. If the photo on the ticket looks nothing like her, the judge will dismiss the ticket. And, if he is an experienced judge (not a pro tem or someone who doesn't usually do traffic cases), he will not ask her who it was driving. (But if that happens, she should simply plead not guilty and ask for trial - where the ticket will be dismissed by the trial judge.) Experienced judges have the attitude that it's the cops' job to ID the culprits.

All this is discussed in the It's Not Me section of the Your Ticket page on the website [url]http://www.highwayrobbery.net[/url]

Not A Cop Or Lawyer... Or A Judge