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I was talking to my neighbor the other night and he mentioned he had a Photo Red Light Violation. In English, that means he got busted by an unmanned camera running a red light. To me, his reasoning was good but to the unbiased camera (read: no chance of talking your way out of the ticket) he was guilty.

On one hand, this pisses me off. I view the municipal revenue generating machine called traffic enforcement as a game…mano v. mano. Photo radar and red lights violates the spirit of the game damnit. Where’s the challenge (or the officer) in that? Actually, what gets me is that a sizeable portion of the revenue generated goes to a private entity that owns and operates the equipment. From the photobuster.com link below, here’s how it works:

Photo radar uses regular traffic radar and a computerized photo system.

Photo radar is set to photograph vehicles traveling above a predetermined speed. The system measures your speed and takes your picture if you’re traveling over a set limit (5 to 10 miles-per-hour over the speed limit).

The results are reviewed and a ticket is mailed to you. Each negative contains the date, time, location and vehicle speed. The photo radar company develops the film and gets the owner information.

If the license plate is legible and the driver’s face visible, the company mails the vehicle owner a summons. The summons usually gives three options; pay a fine, appear in court to contest the violation, or identify who the driver is, if not the owner.

The company provides expert witnesses to the cities for cases that go to court. For this service the company receives a share of fines paid in addition to the cost of their contract with the city. It is in the best interest of the company to testify against you in court, and it usually means additional pay for them.

On the other, running red light causes some of the most stupid and more important: AVOIDABLE accidents. The gov’ts claim that accidents due to running red lights have been reduced over time and have their data to prove it. Here is Arizona’s pitch.

Ironically enough, Arizona (my state of residence) has all the answers for getting it and fighting it.

Getting the ticket: Those of us who own guns are typically cautious/hostile towards government intervention and have been known to challenge the system. Bad news…Arizona’s Highway Safety website has a write-up that explains all the court rulings so far have sided with the legality and constitutionality of the photo radar process. Doesn’t look good for the home team.

Fighting the ticket: On that same search that unearthed the above linked info, a local Arizona retired police officer has started a business combating these photo radar tickets. The site is called …photobusters.com and has a wealth of general information and products to deal with photo traffic enforcement systems.

As motorcyclists, we are all bound to wick it up every now and then and if you get caught by a photo radar system, this information (read all eight pages) may come in useful. I am all for taking responsibility for my actions…ultimately, but in this game, I feel compelled to at least challenge each and every citation I get. That said, it has been many, many years since getting slapped with a ticket. Age, wisdom, and a job that forbids tickets will do that to a brutha.

Note: Due to the physics, it is my hope that bikes aren’t running red lights. For those who do, Mr. Darwin is knocking at your door.

I feel it is my duty…in the spirit of the game…to give the old Photo Stopper a try. Yeah, I know its probably a gimmick but the next time the rain blows out our main road into work, I’ll literally drive by this guy’s shop. Call it my way of supporting my retired police officers.

Has anyone gotten a photo-based speeding or red light ticket on their bike? It seems as if it would be more difficult to see the plate. Does this stuff in a can above work in the daylight? I’m not so worried about the red light systems. I don’t run red lights. I’m really not so worried about the speeding versions because aside from the mountain twisties, I really don’t speed there either. Finally, I probably do not have much to worry about overall as the cities within the greater Phoenix area that operate the photo traffic enforcement systems are not really close to where I live or commute…yet. If they come my way, I’ll be prepared.