Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was born in DC and currently I live in Maryland and in my 45 years of driving I have never got a photo radar speeding ticket or any other type of violation. The other day I was taking my son to CNMC for an emergency test. DMV has a mobile photo radar on Michigan Avenue, NE in the direction to the hospital. Even though I had an emergency to get to the hospital on time, the speed limit required on the first sign is 25 and then a few feet from that one is another sign that says 35 then there is a stop light which I recalled stopping since it was red. The mobile vehicle not marked (police car) took a picture of my vehicle saying that my speed was 38. I received in the mail the citation saying I have to pay $150.00 for driving 3 over the speed limit . There are no sign or warnings they will have mobile cameras. I requested a court date and the date they gave me is after my ticket due date. I would like to know
1. if is required in DC to post signage for this cameras?
2. also why they have different speed limits in a few feet from each other?
3. Do I have to pay my violation even though the court date was given after my due date?
Thanks
Re: #1: AFAIK, there is no law that requires MPD to inform you of their presence, for speed cameras or any other purpose (outside of your home, of course). You can read the District laws as they pertain to traffic here: DC Title 18 (http://os.dc.gov/os/cwp/view,a,1207,q,640048.asp - broken link). Of course you won't find any section on laws that don't exist. Whether or not you stopped at a stoplight later is also irrelevant, since you aren't accused of running a red light.
Now, there are laws that allow for driving under emergency conditions, but those pertain to either emergency vehicles or emergency professionals for true emergencies. Probably the court would consider your situation to be a non-emergency since you were driving your son yourself in a private vehicle, rather than him being transported in an ambulance.
Re: #2: The signs show different speed limits because the speed limit changed at that point, obviously. What difference does it make if the 25mph sign was there or not? You were over both limits so neither the first sign nor its proximity to the first is irrelevant to your situation.
Re: #3: From directly on the DMV website: In accordance with District law, if you submit payment for a ticket fine, you can no longer adjudicate the ticket; therefore, if you are within the 120 days of the ticket being issued and you want to dispute the penalty, you should not pay any portion of the ticket.
At court, you should bring a copy of some sort of receipt or check-in confirmation from CNMC that'll give your story more credibility.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.