I was visiting Tempe from CA earlier this month and received a traffic citation in the mail from one of those notorious speed cameras.

My question is, do I have to pay the fine? I have had many people tell me that the mail-in service is not completely legal, and only once you actually sign the ticket and mail it back is when it becomes legal. Is this true?

I obviously don't want to pay the ticket if I don't have to, but I don't want to be called in to appear in court 5 hours away.

Can anyone offer me some advice as to whether I should just pay it and try to attend traffic in AZ, or just toss it...

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

Bump. Anyone??

 

I would pay it, or talk to an attorney it might cost a bit more but normaly they just charge an attorney fee and no court cost and most the time they can keep it off your record. that is what i always do

 

They had the portable ones they would set up in denver on the highways. The pic they send you is cropped and probably shows other cars in the unedited pic. That should be grounds for dismissal since how does the camera know which car is speeding?

 

I see... Mine was just a stationary camera and there's also a video, but if I do just pay it will it go on my record since i'm from CA and the ticket was from AZ???

 

Many states have reciprocating enforcement policies and CA and AZ could well be in bed together. No way to know for sure, but is it really worth taking that chance? How MUCH was the ticket for?

 

It's for $171, i'm not as worried as paying as I am about the points in general... Since CA obviously has no "speed cameras" do you think the ticket would still reciprocate?

 

Bump...

 

do some more investigating, this is what is hearsay...
arizona has laws written where a peace officer *MUST* serve you.
you never got it, it doesnt exist? nobody pulled you over.
Also is the ticket cited as an actual speed law broken whats the code? I also heard that theyre sending those out and would not end up as points on a driving record as a "moving violation" or some infraction that does accumulate points on a driving record.

more reading...
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2597.asp

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/pho...e-own-tickets/

 

is shows "ARS 28-701A" as the code...

 

for the camera tickets no one has to actually serve it to you. they just mail and you pay.

i have heard however ( and i just read this somewhere, dont know if its true), that if you were to pay it and lets say you paid it for a dollar over the amt, they would have to send you a refund. If you recieve that refund and do not cash it in, it will show in their system as an unfinish transaction and they cant process it until you do. so...until you cash it, no points on the record.

and it was always my understanding that you can only recieve points for a ticket depending on where you got it and where your license is from. more specifically...only one state on each side of the issuing state. so if your l's is from cali, anything outside of AZ, NV,and OR you cant get busted for.

 

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/ticket.asp

 

Long response:

It's a notice of violation and not a citation or ticket; by signing it and returning it you waive your right to service per ARS statutes (I believe the wording is on the mailer). Therefore, if you do not respond, then per ARS they have 120 days to provide service unto you or it is dismissed. This is a widely known fact, one that I had expercised myself early last year for an alleged photo citation last year on the 101. *ahem*

Hotly contested matter at the moment as we're experiencing an explosion of cameras throughout the valley. More info (and references to the statute(s) listed above) can be found at www.camerafraud.com

Short response: don't sweat it

 

Thanks a lot What do you think the chances are that they'd send someone 400 miles to serve me??

 

zero imho

 

Ya, i didn't think so either. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

just throw that letter in the fuking trash and pretend like you never got it. whats to say you even got the letter? and the mailman didnt accidently drop it in the gutter? lol. *** that shiat!!!

 

I am almost positive that no points are given for being caught by a speed camera.

 

Well if they sent it to my house 50% chance my neighbor would get it...LOL Our mail guy is horrible about putting the wrong mail into the box.

You would think for 171.00 they would send it certified to get you to sign for it.

Hate to have you get pulled over and your license is suspended for failure to pay a ticket though.

 

They will send someone to your house to serve you.