Red Light Camera News Investigation: Are red light tickets worthless too? (Denver, CO)
Investigation: Are red light tickets worthless too?
Heidi Hemmat | Investigative Reporter
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9:39 p.m. MDT, May 4, 2011
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DENVER -- First we told you that the mailed Photo Radar tickets are not legally binding unless they are personally served—that means physically handed to you—and the city only has 90 days to “serve” your ticket.
Otherwise, it’s automatically dismissed, according to a Colorado state statute that most people have never read.
Now, due to an overwhelming viewer response, and more than a hundred phone calls and emails asking if the same law applied to the red light tickets—we went looking for an answer.
“It's the same situation, the city has to have you personally served within 90 days or ticket should be dismissed,“ said criminal defense attorney Gary Pirosko.
Pirosko took a closer look at the Colorado state statute that governs photo radar and says the law applies “anytime you don’t have a human being making the decision. So when you have a camera (rather than a police officer) it’s going to require personal service.”
We contacted the Denver Police Department, which oversees the Photo Red Light Enforcement Program.
DPD sent us the revenue collected from the red light program in 2010, which adds up to $721,157.89.
The department did not respond to our questions regarding the required “personal service” of red light tickets.
Still, when we called the city of Denver’s a photo enforcement division we were told photo red light tickets require “personal service.”
The city of Denver employee went on to say if you ignore the notices you get in the mail, the city can try to get a “default judgment against you,” and if that happens, your fine could be sent to a collections agency.
But Pirosko and other attorneys we spoke to aren’t so sure the city can do that—especially since the city would be getting a “default judgment” against the registered owner of the vehicle, and not necessarily the person driving the car.
“It’s just another one of their attempts to send people notices and hope they pay, “ Pirosko said.
To be clear, FOX 31 is not advocating running red lights or speeding. We believe everyone should follow the traffic laws.
But many defense attorneys, including Pirosko, believe your city should have to follow the state law when it comes to enforcement of photo radar and photo red light.
“The government made this law…all we are saying is the government has to follow the rules too,” he said.
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