Experiences at court for photo red light ticket. (attorney, school)

[T. Damon]

I noticed an earlier thread about the photo red lights here but it did not address this exactly. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of going to court, being found guilty, and whether or not a reduced fine was imposed?
I just received one (my first ticket in over 15 years, so I would not consider myself a menace on the road) it appears that I did violate the light by .5 secs along with two other cars, mea culpa. One used to be able to show up to court for a ticket, be found guilty and generally receive a fine reduced by about half or so. Because this fine is $430 + $50 for driving school (OUCH!) this would make a big difference for a barely working architect like myself, but because of the revenue generating nature of photo tickets I'm wondering if there is any lee way available to the judge?

Thanks, and trust me, I won't make that mistake again.

[ferretkona]

The city does not see the money collected for these camera tickets. The company that installs them gets the funds. I would ask a attorney

[T. Damon]

I know that there is substantial portion that goes to the company and would assume that there is no wiggle room there but disagree that the city/county receives no money which is the portion I'm concerned about.
Talking to an attorney would not likely save me too much money.

Thanks though.

[mrgrape]

CA is in a state defecit.
they make the most revenue off traffic laws such as red light.
i say best bet is fight ur ticket at least through trial by jury in letter

[skilaketahoe]

Find out if the law deems the camera to be infallible or if the company failed to callibrate it regularly.

And is there a defence that two tail-gaters would smash into your rear if you caused an unnecessary danger by hitting the brakes?

[skilaketahoe]

I think there's an 'ask law' crowd on the internet. They directed me to some US tax laws that were relevant so maybe there's a traffic law group too.

[T. Damon]

Thanks all, agree with the logic and potential to learn a bit more.

Peace

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

The city does not see the money collected for these camera tickets. The company that installs them gets the funds. I would ask a attorney

The city gets a cut. It always gets a cut. What happens is the company charges the city a monthly fee for using it's camera and to recoup the cost of installing the cameras and anything over that amount is profit for the city. Why do you think the city is allowing so many to be installed? Duh, because they're making money.