Tips on fighting a Red light camera Ticket?

[stormi]

53(1) /"Fail to stop at yellow light before entering intersection /marked crosswalk" /115 /69

Wahuh?  I have never heard, nor been taught, that anyone is supposed to stop at a yellow light.  Even a flashing yellow light is "slow and proceed with caution".  What type of illogical philosophy do you people have up there, anyway?

You're really gonna hate this then:
http://home.naxs.com/kpdweb/ttips.htm
http://www.kingsportpublicworks.com/safety%20tips/52_tips.pdf
And from your driver's manual (page 27 of the pdf) (http://www.state.tn.us/safety/dlhandbook/DL_StudyGuide2007.pdf):

YELLOW: Caution—prepare to stop. The red stop signal will be exhibited immediately after the yellow light appears. Adjust speed immediately to come to a smooth stop. You must stop if it is safe to do so. Do not speed up to beat the light. If you are already IN the intersection when the yellow light comes on, do not stop, but continue cautiously through the intersection. Tennessee law only requires the yellow light to be exhibited for a minimum of three seconds before the red light.

Collisions often happen at intersections on yellow lights. Not only is it dangerous to ignore the yellow light, you may hold up oncoming traffic that receives the green light. Please be aware that some drivers often “jump the green” and start through an intersection, because they have seen the yellow light come on from the crossing directions. If you try to “beat the yellow” and another driver decides to “jump the green” the results could be deadly!

http://www.trafficviolationlawfirms.com/national-content.cfm/Article/7316/Red-Light-Running.html
4. What does a "yellow" light mean?

The meaning varies slightly from State to State. Frequently, as in the District of Columbia a steady yellow light or arrow warns that the light is about to change. If you have not entered the intersection, you should come to a stop, if you can do so safely. If you are already in the intersection, you should continue moving in order to clear it. Speeding up to beat the red light could cause a crash.

[smooth operator]

  I clicked on the link to see what they exspect up noth. What! You mean your not aloud to drink & drive? 

[Red01]

http://www.trafficviolationlawfirms.com/national-content.cfm/Article/7316/Red-Light-Running.html
4. What does a "yellow" light mean?

The meaning varies slightly from State to State. Frequently, as in the District of Columbia a steady yellow light or arrow warns that the light is about to change. If you have not entered the intersection, you should come to a stop, if you can do so safely. If you are already in the intersection, you should continue moving in order to clear it. Speeding up to beat the red light could cause a crash.

In every state I've lived in, that's pretty much the standard in the driver's handbook. If any portion of your vehicle is in the intersection or past the stop line/crosswalk, you are in the intersection legally.

FWIW - here's Oregon's law on yellow lights:

Chapter 811 Rules of the Road for Drivers
811.260 Appropriate driver responses to traffic control devices.
(3) Steady circular yellow signal. A driver facing a steady circular yellow signal light is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated and that a red or flashing red light will be shown immediately. A driver facing the light shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if there is no marked crosswalk, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.

(4) Steady yellow arrow signal. A driver facing a steady yellow arrow signal, alone or in combination with other signal indications, is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated. Unless entering the intersection to make a movement permitted by another signal, a driver facing a steady yellow arrow signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if there is no marked crosswalk, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.

In the OR link Stormi gave, the arguement in court was over if the driver had crossed the crosswalk or not, but as you can see by reading the above, if the driver cannot stop in safety, it's OK to proceed, therefore the arguement over the crosswalk was rather moot.  There didn't seem to be any arguement over the driver not being able to stop in time.

[stormi]

The main reason I posted the OR link was because usually in order to be able to be  charged with something, there has to be a law on the books.  Therefore, by assumption, I figured that there must be some law in OR that says yellow lights can be run, and we frown on it.   

As I understand the "yellow light running", back in the day, when we had cops doing the jobs that cameras do today, (boy, does that seem bitter?) the cop would use their discretion.  In my particular situation, the cop more than likely would have let me off, because he would (hopefully) have seen the whole situation.  However, now, with the cameras, it's black and white, so to speak, and therefore harder to refute the charge, especially when there's no evidence on your behalf, because you got the ticket 2 weeks later, and couldn't necessarily remember even doing what they showed you you did.

Unfortunately, that "Black and white" image of you running the red is one of the things that is very hard to overcome when facing a judge. 

[Red01]

Moral to the story, take your bike for a ride down a muddy road, wash your bike, but "forget" to wash the plate.

[stormi]

nope, that's punishable too.  *sigh*
They ticket regularly here in the winter if your license plate is obscured accumulated snow.

There is one thing that an awful lot of Edmontonians have in common, regardless of anything else - we hate the police here, because everywhere we turn there's a ticket being given for something.

You should see the anger that usually accompanies one of those plastic license plate covers being removed.   I think really, I'm just gonna have to learn to go those wheelies through the intersections

[Red01]

A dirty plate is punishable here, too... though probably seldom written - based on the filthy plates I see on dump trucks around here.

OTOH, it takes a live cop to write you for a dirty plate, the camera can't do it. 

[rkfire]

I'm just curious stormi, does everyone know where these red light camera locations are up there?

We don't have them here but I suspect if we did, they'd be vandalized shortly after..lol.

A kid with a sign "red light camera ahead" and a bucket of mud could make a fortune on the side of the road..lol.

[stormi]

A dirty plate is punishable here, too... though probably seldom written - based on the filthy plates I see on dump trucks around here.

OTOH, it takes a live cop to write you for a dirty plate, the camera can't do it. 

They seem to really like to ticket people for things that obstruct a camera's ability to get a ticket to you.  See, the problem is that the police service gets a portion of the revenue from the cameras.   In BC, the police service didn't get revenue, and they were pretty quick to agree with nearly everyone that Red Light cameras are just a cash cow, and don't reduce accidents.  Here, the police get a cut, and they -insist- that they do help traffic safety. 

[stormi]

I'm just curious stormi, does everyone know where these red light camera locations are up there?

We don't have them here but I suspect if we did, they'd be vandalized shortly after..lol.

A kid with a sign "red light camera ahead" and a bucket of mud could make a fortune on the side of the road..lol.

Yup, the Edmonton police even post the locations on their website, and by law, they must post a sign at the intersection that the camera is at. 
The problem of course is if you're in an unfamiliar area, you may not catch the sign in time, or the camera apparatus, or you may not be able to stop (like in my situation), OR, the fact that the legislation does not (did not?) say that the sign had to be before the camera, it just had to be prior to the intersection it was at, so the city would put up a sign in every direction BUT the one that the camera was at, in SOME cases. 

Oh yes, they've truly made policing an "us against them" scenario in Edmonton.

Some of the cameras have suffered some vandalism, usually spray paint, but none like the one that I read about in Tennessee.  Apparently some guy shot one there.   

http://www.police.edmonton.ab.ca/Pages/TrafficSection/Redlight/locations.asp