This is a Legislative Alert from Highwayrobbery.net for California motorists concerned about red light camera tickets:
This is my first Legislative Alert since June. I try not to send out emails all the time, so that when I do, people will read it. Read this email and contact your state representatives in Sacramento this week.
This is the time of year when new legislation is introduced in Sacramento, and a new bill needs your support.
SB 681 — if passed, it will reduce the fine for rolling right tickets. Tuesday it is coming to a crucial hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee, so our senators need to hear from us now.
Information about SB 681 is on the Action/Legis page at my site, highwayrobbery.net. The URL is http://highwayrobbery.net/redlightcamsjoin.htm#SB681 .
After you have read about SB 681, tell your state senator (and Assemblyperson) how you would like them to vote. You can get their phone numbers here : http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
It’s easy and quick to call a state legislator’s office, one of the few places anymore where a live person answers the phone after just a few rings.
Preventive measures:
1. Would you like to have speed cameras (photo radar) in California? How about higher sales taxes, higher car registration fees, and higher gas tax? ( Or, how about a lower fine for rolling right turn tickets?) All of these are in bills are working their way through the Legislature in Sacramento — or coming soon. See the Action/Legis page for more information.
2. Warn your friends about Snitch Tickets. They’re fake tickets issued by the police, and are sneakily different from a real red light camera ticket. They can be ignored. Read about them at the top of the Your Ticket page, at highwayrobbery.net/redlightcamsticket.html#Fakes .
3. Also let your friends know that real tickets issued by cities – or the L.A. MTA – in LA County can be ignored, because the L.A. County court does not report ignored camera tickets to the DMV. (More info is in Set # 2 on the L.A. County Docs page.) Educating your friends about these two big classes of tickets that can be ignored will reduce the money flowing to the greedy cities and camera companies and hasten the demise of red light cameras in California.
4. Do you drive in Culver City and/or Beverly Hills? In early 2015, both cities expanded their camera systems. So watch out!
5. There is a very practical reason not to shop any more in red light towns. In the questionnaire on my website, I ask defendants how often they have driven through the intersection where they got their ticket. While the majority of defendants were caught at intersections they had not visited previously, many were flashed at an intersection they were very familiar with. Conclusion: You are not safe from getting a ticket — or getting in an accident — simply because you know there’s a camera there. It is necessary to change your routine, to eliminate repeated visits to the intersection. (It’s like playing with snakes. No matter how careful you try to be, eventually they will catch you off guard, and you will get bit.) The small amount of money you have saved at the big box discount store in that town will be more than offset by the cost of tickets, rear-ending someone, or being rear-ended.
