Have you recently opened your mailbox to find a red light camera speeding ticket from the Stockdale Highway and California Avenue intersection? When this occurs, many drivers think there is no way to prove their innocence, but these tickets can be successfully challenged under a number of different defenses.

Before we get to the technical and real defenses of a red light ticket there's another question you need to find the answer to: "is this a real ticket that I just received in the mail?"

The answer may surprise you. A good portion of red light camera notices that are sent out are not actual tickets. They look real and they look menacing, but they are not real tickets. Instead they are sent out by the Bakersfield Police Department or even the red light camera company in hopes that you will respond to the ticket in such a way that will implicate yourself or someone else as the driver.

So how can you tell if this is a real ticket or a trick by law enforcement to get you to "snitch" on someone else or incriminate yourself?

(1) Look to see if the court address and contact information is listed on the mailing. If it's not, then it's not a real ticket.

(2) Check to see if there's a due date on the ticket. If there's no appearance or due date on the ticket, then it's not a real ticket.

When in doubt, contact me and I will tell you for free if the ticket is real or not. And if the ticket is real, other possible defenses include:

If you receive a photo ticket in the mail, don't immediate think you must pay it. These tickets are successfully challenged in court all the time and many result in a complete dismissal of the case.