NYC Red Light Camera ticket - want to fight it.

New York State - I just received a ticket in the mail for running a red light from one of those automated cameras set up at an intersection. In the pictures documenting that my auto passed the red light by .43 seconds is also a picture of a NY city bus also passing the light late.

The traffic laws should be enforced equally. Thus if the city bus does not have to pay the $50 fine, should I have to pay? I want to challenge paying this ticket because the evidence NYC provided that my auto passed the light late also proves that a city bus also did. I don't think the city of New York will enforce the law equally in this case.

How much money are you willing to spend to see if the city paid the $50 for the bus. Unless you got connections with someone in the city transit office that can tell you that. Ask yourself this question what if someone else was driving your car and they did what you did and the ticket came to your house and they told you the same bus story. You would probably say I don't care about the bus you need to pay this $50. 2 wrongs don't make a right. But by all means if you have the time and money then fight it.

Wrong

Im a bus driver in nyc
I found this looking to pay the one i just got from my boss

the city passes them on to us
and we pay and serve a day or more suspension for the same mistake

I got one on Northern Blvd while visiting from out of state. No warning... (I don't even remember running a light) just this $50 ticket in the mail.

Instead of feeling like I should drive safer I feel vindictive. I feel like the cops are against me instead of with me. In a way, I almost feel unappreciated for the things I do correctly: I always use my turn signal, I try not to speed, I never park in fire lanes, etc. I see people swerving in and out without signaling, driving over 90 mph, etc. But here they get me, 3 weeks after something I don't even remember doing. Incredible.

I have to go back there in about a month to do business that's already been scheduled, but I'll tell you this: I won't do any shopping on Northern Blvd. No gas, no food, no stopping at any businesses on that road. No bookstores, no car dealerships. Nothing.

Vindictive? You bet. My lesson is to drive safer... by AVOIDING New York.

I would fight it! You may still win.

A common misconception with most drivers is: If everyone is going 75mph I can to. "going with the flow of traffic" excuse. This does not work. Just because someone else did not get a citation does not mean you cannot. This is known as SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT. You have no case.

The NYC Red light camera tickets are NOT law enforcement. It is a program run by the NYC Finance Dept. They will send you a letter saying that there will be a Judgement placed against you if you do not pay and that you will not be able to renew your registration. The fact is that this is not true!! They do not place a Judgement against anyone because they CAN'T do it. Don't pay the ticket, nothing will happen. The cameras are put in by a private company and the spots are rigged so that the change from greeen light to red is a split second instead of the gradual green, yellow, red transition that takes place at other lights that are not rigged by the NYC Finance Dept. The pictures very conveniently do not show the light itself or who is driving. The Finance Dept is basically just making false claims that people are running Red lights and collecting money for NYC.
DO NOT PAY THE TICKET! Tell Bloomberg to get the money he wants from his rich friends that he gives millions of $$$$ in tax breaks to. Compalin to the NYS Attorney Generals office. These Red Light Fines are nothing but a harassing false accusation.

wow--is that true?

I had three of them and paid.

1. There is a Federal Dept. of Transportation law that ALL yellow lights must have a minimum 3 second duration. This duration INCREASES with higher speed limits posted on the street where a red light and a camera is located, and also increases depending on the grade of the road. A traffic light on a steep hill road SHOULD have a longer yellow light than one on a level road given the same posted speed limit.

2. In New York City the city speed limit is 30 MPH and ALL yellow lights on level roads should have a MINIMUM 3 second duration.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN ALL RED LIGHT CAMERA LOCATIONS.
Perhaps this is due to a faulty timing mechanism, BUT MOST LIKELY the yellow lights have been rigged to a less than 3 sec. duration to cause more drivers to run thru a red light, and get their photo taken by the camera. The city makes A LOT of money that way along with the private contractor who installs and operates the camera.

3. Next time you get a red light camera fine in the mail, go to the intersection, use your cell phone's stopwatch function and TIME THE YELLOW LIGHT. Do that about 5-10 times and average the results. ALL the timings, as well as their average, should be MORE than 3.0 seconds.
IF NOT, that's an illegal yellow light and NYC is essentially ROBBING YOU.

4. There is a 100% chance that even if you document this and go in for a hearing YOU WILL STILL BE FOUND GUILTY AND HAVE TO PAY because the city will CLAIM that AT THE TIME the photo was taken the light was operating properly.

5. NOW if you REALLY want to defend yourself against an illegal yellow light, OR YOU SIMPLY WANT TO THROW A MONKEY WRENCH into the system: FILE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW REQUEST - FOIL -with the New York City Dept. of Transportation requesting ALL maintenance records and light timing adjustments and benchmark tests and any other defect corrections done to that light for the period of time that you are interested in. The longer your request the more NYC DOT will have to dig and chances are you'll get some data to help in your defense (an unusually high # of repairs in the X number of months before you got your photo taken, for instance). Now, IF there is a record that the light timings were adjusted soon after your photo was taken, you have a very good case of a defective light and possibly avoiding the fine.

NOW, IF EVERYONE WHO GOT A PHOTO AND A FINE DID THIS it would cost the city much more than the fine. Complying with LOTS OF FOIL requests is time consuming and requires a lot of manpower.
File your FOIL request with the:
Litigation Support
New York City Dept. of Transportation
55 Water Street
New York, NY 10041

6. This is really the only way to defend yourself against being robbed by the city and its red light camera contractors.

7. TRAFFIC ENGINEER studies have shown that increasing the yellow light duration by just half a second above its minimum causes a DRAMATIC DECREASE IN RED LIGHT RUNNING to the point in many cases of making the installation, maintenance, and operation of these cameras uneconomic.

A simple google search will provide a wealth of information on yellow light duration and its ILLEGAL manipulation by cities and contractors across the USA to entrap motorists and raise revenue.
RED LIGHT CAMERAS ARE REALLY A REVENUE SCAM CONSIDERING THAT IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT LENGTHENING THE YELLOW LIGHT DURATION DRAMATICALLY REDUCES RED LIGHT RUNNING AND IS THEREFORE MUCH SAFER FOR ALL INVOLVED.

WRITE TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATOR AND DEMAND A LAW INCREASING YELLOW LIGHT TIME DURATION. REVENUE SCAMS BY NEW YORK CITY AND OTHER CITIES WILL STOP THEN.

I am a (NYC Transit) city bus driver. When we violate the red light cam, we get called into a hearing, usually get a five day suspension w/o pay and go back into retraining for one 8 hour day at the training center on Zerega Ave in the Bronx. So if you think we skate, your wrong. It is very costly to us being the public safety is at issue. Do I think it is fair? Personally no. Professionally it is a mechanism that helps quell the problem of red light violators. It just might save a life. So keep that in mind.