Do Drivers Have a Green Light to Stop Paying Red Light Citations?

The red light camera ticketing program might be dead, but the fines are still alive. City officials say those who were hit with fines ranging from $250 to $400 must pay them. The City Council voted to turn off the cameras last month.

“All pending red light traffic camera tickets are being treated like every [other] traffic ticket,” said Richard French, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. “Not paying them will run the risk of any traffic violation as in higher fees, restrictions and other consequences,”

While law enforcement has made it known that those cited are still responsible to pay up, many have taken the program's early retirement as a chance to fight the fines. There were about 65,000 unpaid citations at the end of July, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Traffic ticket attorney Sherman Ellison is calling for the City Council to grant amnesty for violators, according to a statement from his law firm. The attorney says this is because there is confusion in the write-up of the law.

With a speeding ticket, the person has to sign it, making the ticket a contract. The red light tickets are mailed to the registered owner of the photographed vehicle. Since there is no signed contract, a person can choose not to pay the fine well past the due date with little to no consequence.

“If someone is a good citizen and they were to voluntarily pay the $400 to $500 fine, and someone else who thinks the system is unjust and ignores the fine that the first person has to pay while the other receives no penalty … the disconnect is totally confusing to the impacted population,” Ellison said.

He added, “This whole situation should be cleaned up by granting amnesty.”

A major reason for the City Council’s decision to end the program is because of the difficulty getting residents to pay the fines.

Even some who opposed the red light camera program due to its $1.5 million cost—such as Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes Brentwood—have publicly expressed disagreement with granting amnesty to those who have already been cited, The Argonaut newspaper reported.

“There are tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles who are dealing with red light camera tickets and have no idea what to do,” Ellison said. “Every day my office gets dozens of phone calls from people needing help and asking questions. I try to give my clients an accurate account of the current state of the approach of the Superior Court when it comes to this issue. I don't tell them not to pay the fine.”