Do You Have To Pay Speed Camera Tickets In Tennessee

Taijarae Miller has spent much of her life living in Clarksville, and considers herself a constabulary-abiding citizen. Only she's quick to acknowledge she's gotten three red-calorie-free camera tickets over the years.

When she got the first ii, she paid them without a thought.

"I never really had a problem with it," she said. "I always felt that I ran the low-cal, so I will go ahead and pay the ticket."

But when she recently received her tertiary reddish-low-cal ticket, Miller noticed a disclaimer on the citation with two conflicting statements.

The first one said, in all caps, "Payment is required past law." Merely in the very next line, the citation said: "Not-payment of this notice cannot adversely affect your credit score or study, commuter's license, and/or automobile insurance rates."

Miller decided to reach out to ask a customs chat group on social media to weigh in on whether she should ship in her $l to settle the ticket.

The response was immediate, overwhelming and contradictory.

"No intentions on paying."

"Yous meliorate. Your license will exist revoked."

"I've gotta stack that goes back to 2010 ... never paid ane."

"It volition but go to collections."

"It's not enforced, and you're simply lining the pockets of a 3rd party gotcha program. It's non admissible in court."

"You lot practise get points added to your license if not paid."

"Information technology's a scam. Y'all exercise not have to pay it. It's not legal."

After nearly 300 comments, Taijarae was still no closer to getting her question answered.

So The Foliage-Chronicle investigated on her behalf.

Defenseless on camera

Clarksville'south carmine-calorie-free cameras are run past Redflex Traffic Systems, an Australian-based company responsible for installing and maintaining the cameras.

Right now, the city has seven ruddy-light cameras installed at four intersections:

• Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Trenton Road.
• Wilma Rudolph and Interstate 24.
• Wilma Rudolph and Dunbar Cavern Road.
• 101st Airborne Sectionalisation Parkway and Whitfield Road.

Merely the program could before long exist expanding.

The Clarksville Police Department say it's looking into installing cameras at four additional intersections, selected based on their high crash rates.

When someone runs a ruby-red light at a camera-monitored intersection, photos and a video are taken. Redflex pre-screens the video and sends a list of all possible violations to the CPD.

Per country constabulary, those violations must be validated past a sworn officeholder of the law.

CPD Lt. Vincent Lewis, traffic unit commander, says that's exactly what happens.

"The No. one misconception is that Redflex is issuing a citation," he said. "Every single video has to be reviewed and validated by a sworn police officer."

As Lewis points out, if there are any questions about the violation — due to a blurry camera paradigm, bad weather, the plates non matching upward or whatever number of other reasons — the commendation is voided.

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?Back up local journalism with a digital subscription

"We look for articulate violations," he explained, demonstrating how the department backs up the video while reviewing it to decide the exact position of the car and its distance from the intersection when the light turned cherry-red. He points out that the lights are timed to allow at least 4.5 seconds for a yellowish warning light, so drivers have more than enough fourth dimension to stop.

Once the citation is certified, Redflex issues the $50 ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle.

For law, it's a matter of public safe.

"We have to use every bit many tools every bit nosotros can," Lewis said. "This is 1 of many tools that we accept to try to make (the roads) safer."

But he admits it'due south tough to provide empirical evidence that Clarksville's reddish-light cameras are accomplishing that goal, and he points to the area's rapid growth equally the reason.

"Based on the increment of the population here, we are non seeing the subtract (in ruddy-calorie-free runners) that we had hoped to encounter," Lewis said. "The rapid growth makes it difficult to quantify how much influence the cameras are having."

Who gets the coin?

People who get a citation in the mail can choose to pay the fine, go to city court to fight the fine or ignore the ticket altogether.

Police estimate that on boilerplate, only a couple people per month fight the tickets. The police officer who certifies the ticket must also appear in courtroom, should someone choose to practice the right to due process.

As for the money collected from those who pay up?

The city of Clarksville spits the acquirement with Redflex. Of the coin received by the metropolis, 75 percent goes to police and the residual goes to the parks department.

But Lewis says it's non a matter of money.

"Information technology's nearly educating people," he said.

These days, a growing number of people seem to be choosing option iii — only ignoring the ticket. Virtually argue that the tickets themselves are non lawful. It's a position that seems to be reinforced by a lack of consequences, as spelled out on the citations.

Legal controversy

Controversy surrounding the cherry-light camera programme came to a head in 2016, when Land Rep. Andy Holt, a Republican from Dresden, burned one of his own tickets in a video that went viral.

It happened after he sponsored a pecker to outlaw the utilize of the cameras in a previous session. The last version of that neb, which passed the General Assembly, simply banned the employ of some speed cameras.

In 2016, Holt sponsored another neb that became state police force, requiring traffic camera vendors to include the statement on citations that reads, "non-payment of this notice cannot adversely bear on your credit score or report, driver's license, and/or automobile insurance rates."

But many citations — like the one Taijarae received — too say payment is required by police force.

Holt believes that, too, is a violation of state law. He says he plans to accept his fight to the courts, even though the Tennessee Attorney General's Part has thus far upheld the constitutionality of the program in every claiming.

"My goal is to ultimately eliminate all photo enforcement in the state of Tennessee," said Holt in a recent phone interview. "Putting a camera at an intersection doesn't do anything to better prophylactic and deter criminal activity."

Holt contends that the constabulary allowing photo enforcement tools was fundamentally flawed from the start, because the same offense cannot exist both criminal and civil in the eyes of the state.

Instead, he views it as an unscrupulous exercise that privatizes law ability for profit.

But do you accept to pay?

Opponents of traffic cameras, like Holt, contend y'all do non have to pay.

"Every bit a Tennessee state lawmaker," said Holt, "I am encouraging people non to pay these tickets ever."

And the truth is, with no existent consequences for not-payment too the possibility that unpaid tickets could be reported to a collections agency, there is little incentive to pony up the fine.

Furthermore, the chances that any unpaid fines would be reported to collections are slim. That'south because Redflex says it's up to the city of Clarksville to do so, while city officials say it's upwards to Redflex.

So, the short answer is no, you don't have to pay.

Simply for constabulary officers like Lewis, who must deal with the repercussions of every fatal accident in Clarksville, a number which totaled at least a dozen so far this twelvemonth, the fine is non the point.

"To me, the effect is whether they run the red light," he said. He added that for people who do pay, much of that coin goes dorsum into the enforcement program, thus providing some bit of restitution for violating the law.

For Lewis, the respond and the overall goal is simple: "Don't run the red calorie-free."

And his response to folks like Holt, who question the lawfulness of the programme?

"It will exist an issue with those types of people until they take a family member killed," he said.

Miller said she'll likely become ahead and pay the ticket.

"I merely don't want it to come back and bite me," said said.

In the future, she plans to ho-hum downward and be more aware when driving through those intersections — exactly what officers like Lewis hope to hear.

Achieve Jennifer Babich at 931-245-0742 or by e-mail at jbabich@gannett.com.

Source: https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/clarksville/2018/09/26/red-light-camera-ticket-do-you-have-pay-clarksville/1357010002/

Posted by: quachthismillond1969.blogspot.com

Share this post