Not only do driver drivers in California have to watch for the red light cameras that seems to be popping up at every intersection, California drivers have one more thing to look out for: “Snitch Tickets.”
In many California cities, drivers are being tricked into turning themselves in for running red lights.
Red light cameras at intersections generally take two pictures when a driver runs a red light. The first is of the front of the car and is meant to provide police with a picture of the driver. The red light camera then takes a second picture of the license plate. Police then use driver records to identify the driver and match the driver with the car.
These violations if ignored can result in collection agencies contacting you for more than twice the original cost of the violation. Each ticket is beatable but must be taken to trial and argued efficiently to be dismissed. We have dismissed similar violations over 10,000 times statewide and can help you do the same.
But when a red light camera takes a picture of a car running a red light but the driver is out of state, over 40 California cities mail a notice of a traffic violation to the registered owner of the vehicle. The notice asks the registered owner to provide certain identifying information of the driver. Thus the moniker “snitch-ticket.”
In some California cities, over 40 percent of the “tickets” mailed to drivers are actually snitch tickets. In Medesto, for example, 46 percent of the tickets were snitch tickets in 2013.
California State Senator Joe Simitian of Palo Alto has introduced a bill that would prohibit snitch tickets. Many cities still issue the violations, if you receive any type of ticket contact us immediately to discuss your dismissal options.