Anyone fight, and win, a camera speeding ticket in DC?

[Anonymous]

We got one on the SE freeway - going 56 in a 45 MPH zone. Ticket was $125! We've gotten a 1-2 before but they were always $40. Everything I read led me to believe that they charged $40 bc thats a price point that most people will just pay and move on, but $125 is a significant amount of money. Since you get the tickets weeks after you were driving, how can I possibly know exactly what speed I was going at the time? The cameras can be wrong. I read online that you can challenge the calibration of the camera and the placement of the warning signs.

Has anyone done this with success? Or even tried and lost? Gotten a reduced fine?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got one on the SE freeway - going 56 in a 45 MPH zone. Ticket was $125! We've gotten a 1-2 before but they were always $40. Everything I read led me to believe that they charged $40 bc thats a price point that most people will just pay and move on, but $125 is a significant amount of money. Since you get the tickets weeks after you were driving, how can I possibly know exactly what speed I was going at the time? The cameras can be wrong. I read online that you can challenge the calibration of the camera and the placement of the warning signs.

Has anyone done this with success? Or even tried and lost? Gotten a reduced fine?

Thanks!

Camera speeding tickets are fat cows for local jurisdictions and evil and odious to those who are ticketed. I tried to fight one in VA and lost. I have never heard of anyone being successful but it is always worth a try. Good luck and please post and let us know what you did if you are successful.

[Anonymous]

or not...

[Anonymous]

You can get a reduced fee, you just have to make an appointment with the judge (go to the courthouse and ask the clerk who will assign you a date/time)...I had one (albeit in another state) and got the fee cut in half. I've also done that with a speeding ticket. There is some leinency.

[Anonymous]

DH has acquired quite the collection of these. He's had several droped due to there being another vehicle in the photo, so he was able to argue they can't determine if it was his speed or the other guy's.

[Anonymous]

I've also heard that you can challenge it based on calibration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got one on the SE freeway - going 56 in a 45 MPH zone. Ticket was $125! We've gotten a 1-2 before but they were always $40. Everything I read led me to believe that they charged $40 bc thats a price point that most people will just pay and move on, but $125 is a significant amount of money. Since you get the tickets weeks after you were driving, how can I possibly know exactly what speed I was going at the time? The cameras can be wrong. I read online that you can challenge the calibration of the camera and the placement of the warning signs.

Has anyone done this with success? Or even tried and lost? Gotten a reduced fine?

Thanks!

Wow, you can go through a lot of research and work to fight it. Or maybe you can stop speeding in DC????

[Anonymous]

I have heard the opposite of what others are saying. I have heard that if you go and are found guilty, you pay the fine and court costs.

Perhaps, you could stop speeding. The $40 is when you are only going a few miles over. Clearly you were going much faster.

[Anonymous]

"Clearly you were going much faster."

PP already said she was "going 56 in a 45 MPH zone." What irritates me about speed camera tickets is that there is no police officer in the world who would pull you over and give you a ticked for going 56 in a 45 on an interstate. But there the camera is and it does. Aren't these supposed to be about safety, not revenue generation? Oh, wait...

[Anonymous]

PP here - "ticked" should be "ticket," obviously. Freudian!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Clearly you were going much faster."

PP already said she was "going 56 in a 45 MPH zone." What irritates me about speed camera tickets is that there is no police officer in the world who would pull you over and give you a ticked for going 56 in a 45 on an interstate. But there the camera is and it does. Aren't these supposed to be about safety, not revenue generation? Oh, wait...

Oh yes there are police that would pull you over for 11 miles over. My sister is a prosecutor and she can tell you they happily ticket you for 6+ over in many parts of Virginia, for example (with a 55 or a 65 mph limit). I don't think there are any interstates with 45 mph limits, though.

11 mph over the limit represents a significant safety risk -- it's a lot harder to control a car at 56 than at 45. So many people think 10 over is the norm, but just because some police officers/troopers won't pull you over for it, doesn't make it ok to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Clearly you were going much faster."

PP already said she was "going 56 in a 45 MPH zone." What irritates me about speed camera tickets is that there is no police officer in the world who would pull you over and give you a ticked for going 56 in a 45 on an interstate. But there the camera is and it does. Aren't these supposed to be about safety, not revenue generation? Oh, wait...

Oh yes there are police that would pull you over for 11 miles over. My sister is a prosecutor and she can tell you they happily ticket you for 6+ over in many parts of Virginia, for example (with a 55 or a 65 mph limit). I don't think there are any interstates with 45 mph limits, though.

11 mph over the limit represents a significant safety risk -- it's a lot harder to control a car at 56 than at 45. So many people think 10 over is the norm, but just because some police officers/troopers won't pull you over for it, doesn't make it ok to do.

No, the OP says that she isn't sure how fast she was going. She was speeding. Regardless of how fast. Pay the ticket and move on. Why waste everyone's time?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't bother, because taking a vacation day to go to court (and possibly lose) would cost me over $150 in lost vacation pay. (if i were to leave my job and have it paid out.) Expensive lesson, but oh well. I got a $50 camera ticket in DC. Saw the date, saw the location and thought "Doh!" i had been driving home from the beach while 7 months pregnant and really had to pee. Hit absolutely no traffic on NY ave (first time ever) and took advantage of the no traffic. I think i was going 45 in a 35. oh well.

[Anonymous]

Hypothetically, you could claim that you weren't driving. The photo cannot prove it, and you're innocent until proven guilty.

Actually, you don't even have to claim anything. Just say, the photo does not show who was driving, therefore there is insufficient proof that I was speeding because it could have been someone else. If they ask if you were driving, take the fifth.

Please post here if you do this, as I am very interested how they get around this, if they have a way to do so.

[Anonymous]

Um, this is from November 2010. Presumably the OP has already decided what to do.