With increased use of red-light cameras being used to ticket various drivers, there has also been voiced a number of concerns as to the fairness of ticketing in this particular manner. The tickets sent out to drivers by mail often levy expensive fines. If tires go past the while line on a red light, the fine can be $40. If both rear tires go beyond the white line as well, the ticket can increase to $75.
However, though such tickets may prove to be expensive, it can be even more expensive for a driver to ignore such a ticket. Such a traffic violation can result in immobilization of a vehicle as well. Yet what has caused the greatest among of outrage in the Denver area was the fact that many of the tickets that have been unpaid were sent to police officers and other city officials. Such employees are not required to pay such citations.
Obviously, for criminal justice to work at all, penalties have to be administered in an even-handed manner. Equally important, those charged with such violations should have the ability to challenge evidence brought against them.
Video footage from a camera or photo-radar ticket prompts can often be taken out of context. A driver may have inadvertently crossed a white line without risk to any other individual, and yet an explanation for what occurred may not be taken into account.
Criminal defense attorneys do make every effort to put evidence into context. These same attorneys will attempt to make sure that every arrest is tried on a case-by-case basis while allowing for their clients to tell their side of the story.
Source: Denver Post, “Editorial: In Denver, a double standard on traffic tickets,” August 2, 2012