Whether you receive a red light ticket in the mail or get one directly from a law enforcement officer, don’t lose hope. There are methods to dispute red light traffic tickets in CA with a CA traffic attorney.
A Red Light Ticket in Your Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV)
The trouble with getting a red light ticket in a CMV is that many fleet managers are not very tolerant of moving violations in their trucks and buses. Even when you pay the fine or get convicted on a red light ticket in your privately-owned vehicle, the fleet manager gets notified through the CA Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Program if you don’t notify them yourself, which a CDL holder is required to do within 30 days of a conviction regardless of where you got the ticket.
Once yearly, on the anniversary of your employer’s enrolling you into the EPN program, the DMV will automatically send a copy of your MVR, which is public information, to your employer. Similarly, all employers are required to check a potential driver’s Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) before hiring you.
You might think that a red light you got and paid in Iowa will not be sent to CA, don’t count on it. With the Driver’s License Compact (DLC), which CA joined in 1963, Iowa is bound by the compact to forward your conviction notice or failure to appear and resolve the ticket to the home state. Once received, the DMV would include it on your motor vehicle driving record (MVR), and send notice to the DOT FMCSA.
Therefore, CMV drivers are cautioned to consult with a CA traffic attorney before paying or disputing a red light ticket. The CA traffic attorney can request all information the state (LEO) gathered about your red light ticket, whether it was a stop or from a camera-enforced red light ticket.
The bumper ticket or LEO-enforced ticket comes with a fine of $238 if paid or convicted. While the camera-enforced ticket is $490 —likely because they have to pay an outfit in Arizona to maintain the system. Although a trained LEO with a specific amount of time on traffic patrols must view the images and video before mailing it out to the vehicle owner, it could be that you were not driving. Also, the length of the truck could cause the driver to have to make a left turn after the light turned red and traffic prevented them from proceeding safely.
Once again, a CA traffic attorney can get the video and images from a camera-enforced red light ticket and challenge the ticket in traffic court. Likewise, an LEO-enforced red light ticket might have been caused because the LEO had a lousy view of the truck and the light.
Similarly, the driver or their traffic lawyer can go to the intersection where the incident occurred and check the yellow to red time to ensure it meets the “minimum yellow light change interval” from the Caltrans MUTCD.
Likewise, the knowledgeable and experienced traffic attorney has other technicalities and techniques to challenge a red light ticket in Woodland Traffic Court in Yolo County.
Challenge a Red Light Ticket in Woodland, CA Traffic Court
Call the traffic ticket defense team of Bigger & Harman, (661) 349-9300. Se habla Español (661) 349-9755.
When you get a red light ticket or other traffic tickets in Yolo County, CA, give us a call or send an email for a free initial consultation about your situation.
Email: attorney@biggerharmanlaw.com.
References:
The 2019-2021 CA Commercial Driver Handbook.pdf
The Caltrans MUTCD Program