Personally, I hate red light cameras. I get that the reason some are strategically placed at certain corners might be because of a number of accidents/some of them possibly fatal. In Santa Clarita, while I have no personal knowledge, I sincerely doubt that is the case. The cameras generate substantial revenue and they are placed in way too many locations.
I have found myself slamming on my brakes on more than one occasion and sometimes locking up the wheels in order to stop. The tickets are quite hefty. The City of Los Angeles has done away with their red light camera tickets. Sad to say, they are alive and thriving in Santa Clarita.
Many years ago, I received one in the mail. If I went through the red light, sure, I deserve the ticket. But back then, I didn’t. My wife did. Trust me when I say that I look nothing like her. I received the ticket anyway. And with the ticket, the court provided a form that I could sign saying that I was not the driver but “ ________________” was. “_____________” would of course then receive the citation. Hence, snitch ticket! Having my wife get a moving violation is only marginally better than me getting the points on my license. I wasn’t going to snitch on my wife. And on my way to court, I started wondering what I would do if the Judge asked who was driving. I thought I could invoke the marital privilege. But then, they would figure it out pretty easily. I thought about saying “I don’t have to tell you, Judge.” But I was not sure how well that would go over, and I wasn’t sure that I didn’t.
I was in court representing a client on one of those tickets here in Santa Clarita this week. She wasn’t the driver. She was the registered owner of the vehicle and she got the ticket. The person driving looked nothing like her. The Sheriff’s Office would not voluntarily dismiss the ticket when she told the coordinator this fact, unless she gave up the identity of the driver, which she refused to do. So she paid a ridiculous amount of bail and we wound up going to trial on the ticket this week. I was faced with the same issue. Did she have to disclose who the driver was? It took about two hours worth of research, but I was able to find a definitive answer. And armed with my proof, I am happy to report that the case was dismissed and my client never had to reveal the information.
Contact the Marcus Law Firm for your criminal, business and family law needs at 661-257-8877.