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I am glad so many people responded to the thread. I am thankful for all the advice. However... so many people have this attitude like my fiance is guilty... those machines that save lives are known to be faulty and outdated a great deal of the time. why would I hire an attorney? I just wanted info on the current laws. You may think it is a waste of time to fight a ticket... but for some people it costs a good deal of money. There are no photo enforcement signs on Pennsylvania ave. Based on the law in new mexico... that would make the ticket invalid. Hopefully... the judge will see it that way as well. My fiance is the victim of abuse all the time from people and I am tired of her getting picked on... she wears a knee brace for an old spinal cord injury. She does more than most two legged bodied people do in a day. She is also short and people like to tall down to her. So when someone picks on her... I look at it as WE. Before assuming something...please think about what it would be like to even struggle to put on your pants at 29!
There will be no judge at your fiance's "hearing." Speeding van tickets and red light camera tickets do not go on your record. If your fiance fights the ticket, he/she will be assigned to a location on a certain date to have the video of speeding incident reviewed. The location is not a courtroom. The people reviewing the ticket are city employees. The person who was in the van will be there. He/she will report on the time and exact location of the parked van/SUV. He/she will say how the equipment was checked & calibrated. I heard the same spiel 20 times the day I sat in that room to fight my ticket. The video screen will show your fiance's vehicle and the clocked speed she was going. There is no way around the ticket if she was speeding.
Like another poster already said, these cameras are all over the country. Your civil rights argument has been fought many times (I probably heard 5 people the day I was downtown say the same thing). You know what the city employees said? "Too bad, so sad. Pay your ticket on your way out. Thank you and have a good day."
The city of Rio Rancho recently purchased 2 speeding SUV's. They made a public announcement about it. For the first 30 days, speeders received citation warnings in the mail. After the 30 days were up which was December 31st, the warnings changed to tickets. The same thing will happen with the red light cameras that Rio Rancho is getting. For the first 30 days there will be a warning of flashing lights or something like that. After that, the tickets get issued.
As long as the speeding vans in the city are public knowledge and there's published evidence of that, the city is clear to issue tickets.
Does anyone have furthur information in regard to phota radar...I apparently received a speeding ticket from a photo van a few months ago, but my car is registered in another state and the ticket was sent to that address. It was just forwarded to me. In AZ, the law states that the ticket must be delivered and signed for to be valid. Is that the case in NM as well, or any idea how to find out?? I would like to ignore it at this point and take it as a warning, otherwise I'm afraid of late penalties. Please, let's stick to the facts. The previous discussion on this thread was absurd.
Assuming you got the citation in Albuquerque, the facts would be on this web page: Red Light Cameras - Automated Traffic Enforcement - City of Albuquerque (http://www.cabq.gov/police/redlight/ - broken link)
My husband got a redlight ticket from a camera a year ago in Rio Rancho. It was one of those was it orange or red when he crossed the line. We paid the $100 fine and then went on our way. He got pulled over for speeding a week ago and the officer found no other citations or incidents on his license. My husband told him about the redlight ticket and the officer laughed and said "I can't believe you paid that, no one pays those they don't go on your record and they are not enforced" he said he wouldn't have paid it and then let my husband off with a warning. I am wondering if its because he paid that first ticket. Anyway thats all I know.
In Rio Rancho the automated traffic enforcement programs are a civil violation. It is not reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles or your insurance company.
I'm not sure I would ignore them. Could it result in a bad credit score? Just thinking out-loud.
The bottom line is simple. Was she speeding or not? If so pay the fine. If not figure out a way to prove it.
Around here the most annoying violation is people ignoring ther red light when a string of care is making a left turn across traffic. Not knowing if the next three cars are going to stop or not has really interfered with the stoplight drags.
So photographing people without their knowledge is not a violation of their civil rights? This occurred on Pennsylvania Ave across from Sandia High School. The picture was taken from a van camera parked in an apartment building. Thx for all info other posters.... I think we have a good shot at getting the ticket dismissed.
I got a ticket at that exact spot last year during Christmas break. The van is there quite often especially this time of year. It's a school zone, but it seems to be there more when school is NOT in session than when it is. They probably get more speeders that way, because without the students there, you don't think about it like you would if you saw the kids. There was no sign when I received my ticket either. It is a civil violation in Albuquerque, so no points and they do not report it to your insurance.
My frustration is that I had no idea if I was speeding or not since I got the ticket a week later (although I admit I probably was or they wouldn't have given me the ticket, but it would have been nice to know for sure) - you can't really fight it, when you don't really remember the specifics. Also on Pennsylvania, the speed limit goes down I believe 10mph in the short distance between Montgomery and Sandia HS, and that's easy to miss if you aren't paying attention to the speed limit signs on every block. And I agree with Zoidberg - there is no consistency on the speed limits on the streets of the different schools. I also passed Dennis Chavez Elementary and Desert Ridge MS every day on my way to work and both were on similar streets as Pennsylvania, but had higher speed limits than Pennsylvania and younger kids go to those schools. It should be consistent. All said, I paid it. It's not worth the hassle.
Last edited by SunshineAlly; 12-18-2011 at 04:49 PM..
Also on Pennsylvania, the speed limit goes down I believe 10mph in the short distance between Montgomery and Sandia HS, and that's easy to miss if you aren't paying attention to the speed limit signs on every block.
It only goes down 5, it just feel like 10 because no one actually does 30 on the section from Montgomery to Comanche elementary.
It only goes down 5, it just feel like 10 because no one actually does 30 on the section from Montgomery to Comanche elementary.
I actually do 30.
Barring twisty roads, poorly planned roads, or hills, I strongly feel that if a road is signed for 25mph, then it doesn't necessitate a traffic light when it intersects a major street. As such, I feel they should do away with the lights on Pennsylvania and Comanche and Pennsylvania and Candelaria. Make the Pennsylvania traffic stop just as if they were coming on from a different street of 25mph.
The irritating thing about that is they won't axe the lights because of morning and afternoon rushes from Comanche ES and Sandia HS; still, a few well-placed "no left turn between x and x" signs would alleviate any problems from killing the lights.
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The previous discussion on this thread was absurd.
