Earlier today I ran a red light and was caught by the red light camera at the intersection. Unfortunately there was a officer in a squad car monitoring the intersection as well. He pulled me over and gave me a Red Light - Fail to Stop ticket. He said that I would be getting a ticket via the red light camera system and that I can't be charged with both tickets. Now i know the red light camera ticket is far less severe and my preferred outcome is to take this to court and get the ticket the officer gave me dropped. I am just not sure why he gave me the ticket if he knows that I would be getting one via the red light camera? Has anyone been in this situation before? What is the likelyhood that the ticket issued by the officer will be dropped? I have a clean driving record.

That's odd. hmm maybe you should try courting both tickets and than offer to plea guilty for the traffic camera ticket (there's no way out of this one anyways), if the officer's gets dropped?

This is my first time hearing about someone getting two tickets (one by officer, one by cam).

I'm sure it's happened before though, it's just kinda odd.

When you ran the red light, were you going straight or left?

goldhead124 wrote:

I am just not sure why he gave me the ticket if he knows that I would be getting one via the red light camera?

I'd imagine the officer is giving you a "best" case scenario, best being everything works correctly as it should. He knows you're likely to get ticket in the mail, but it's not a guarantee. It's hard to fault the officer for following through. He doesn't know what will happen with that red light camera ticket, if anything. Not all camera offenses are OK'ed by an officer to be sent out in the mail. It's possible there's not enough evidence in the photos to charge you. At that moment, he is there and he has enough to lay down a charge.

goldhead124 wrote:

What is the likelyhood that the ticket issued by the officer will be dropped?

I couldn't give you an answer to that, but you'd have to get your red light camera ticket in the mail before it's even a possibility. You'd probably want to request a trial to give yourself enough time.

I would plead NOT GUILTY to all tickets you get and request a trial with the officer present. Once you get your notice of trial, then request disclsoure (officers notes).

Once you get disclosure for both tickets, then you can decide how to proceed.

t3ch9 wrote:

When you ran the red light, were you going straight or left?

I was going straight, I clearly ran the read, the red light camera will show that, there is no disputing that I ran the red light. My argument is why was the officer monitoring the intersection where a red light camera is already operating, and why give me another ticket when I will get one from the red light camera?

jsherk wrote:

I would plead NOT GUILTY to all tickets you get and request a trial with the officer present. Once you get your notice of trial, then request disclsoure (officers notes).

Once you get disclosure for both tickets, then you can decide how to proceed.

What's the significance of the officer's notes? What information will be included in them that would influence the outcome? I am not sure how I can plead not guilty to both tickets; the red light camera ticket will clearly show that I ran the red.

The officers notes are what he will testify in court. Maybe he forgot to make note of something important or spilled coffee on his notes for that day. Anyways once you see the notes then you will know if he can testify and get you convicted or not.

I did have my dog eat my notebook once. Fortunately I was never called to testify on what was in the latter half of the book !

goldhead124 wrote:

t3ch9 wrote:

When you ran the red light, were you going straight or left?

I was going straight, I clearly ran the read, the red light camera will show that, there is no disputing that I ran the red light. My argument is why was the officer monitoring the intersection where a red light camera is already operating, and why give me another ticket when I will get one from the red light camera?

jsherk wrote:

I would plead NOT GUILTY to all tickets you get and request a trial with the officer present. Once you get your notice of trial, then request disclsoure (officers notes).

Once you get disclosure for both tickets, then you can decide how to proceed.

What's the significance of the officer's notes? What information will be included in them that would influence the outcome? I am not sure how I can plead not guilty to both tickets; the red light camera ticket will clearly show that I ran the red.

Yes, there is usually never a defense against a red light ticket.

Anyways i was asking you if you were making a left turn or going straight because, most traffic cameras do not catch left turns. They will only catch you if you are going straight.

I was thinking the officer gave the ticket because in case the traffic light camera did not give you a ticket, you would still be charged for running the red light.

Anyways, your best bet would be, hope that you do get a red light ticket from the camera, court both the tickets.

Then you can plea guilty for the red light camera ticket and get the one the police officer gave you dismissed.

You should have asked the officer, "If I'm going to get a ticket in the mail, why would you give me one?" but I'm sure it's because he was just trying to make sure you get a ticket whether the camera works or not.

I'm pretty sure they are obligated to give you a ticket if they see you do a violation, whether there is a camera there or not.

In your situation though, i think hiring a paralegal is unnecessary. You should save money for that and just court them both yourself. I'm pretty sure you would only be stuck with the red light camera ticket instead of the officer's ticket.

If this happens, it won't affect your insurance rates. You should also get advice from a reliable source, this is just how I think it would work. Don't take my word for it

I'm here for the same reason as you, running a red light - officer ticket lol.