DISCLAIMER:
Just for kicks, I have to write that I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. I strongly recommend that you contact a lawyer or look up the laws yourself.
Here is a summary of the laws concerning Traffic Photo Radar or Automated vehicle identification device (AVID) in Colorado. These exerts are found in the Colorado Revised Statues: Regulation of Vehicles and Traffic. This book is at your local library or you can pay about twenty dollars a month to peruse them on the web
· The first ones free.
· Dont sign for it
· Contest it.
· Look up.
- The first one is free.
If the state, a county, a city and county, or a municipality detects a speeding violation of less than ten miles per hour over the reasonable and prudent speed under a municipal traffic regulation or under state law through the use of an AVID and the violation is the first violation by such driver that the state, county, city and county, or municipality has detected using an AVID , then the state, county, city and county, or municipality shall mail such a driver a WARNING regarding the violation and the state, county, city and county, or municipality MAY NOT IMPOSE any penalty or surcharge for such first violation. (CRS.RVT. 42-4-110.5.4a, page 131) This over complicated and long-winded paragraph basically states that the first AVID ticket you receive is free!
- Dont sign for it.
Under Colorado law you may have certain rights concerning this violation (the AVID ticket), including the right not to pay any fine until a citation has been personally serviced upon you by a certified peace officer (CRS.RVT. 42-4-110.5.2.a.I.B, page 130). So dont sign any registered mail that comes to your house concerning an AVID unless the letter is handed to you by a Sheriff or Police officer. After returning Big Brothers letter, sit and wait for your local officer to deliver a ticket that does not affect your driving record or insurance, and has a maximum penalty of seventy-five dollars (CRS.RVT.42.4.110.5.4.5, page 131).
- Contest it.
If the government that permits AVID does not accept the photos as authoritative or a reliable source for the purpose of damaging your driving and insurance record why should a judge honor them in court as unquestionable proof that you, the owner of the car, was speeding or running a red-light? Remember just how easily a photo can be altered on a home computer!
· The more people that contest AVID in court and get off will force the Government to evaluate their use of AVID and hopefully eliminate it. Check out Kristin Dizons article Citys Photo Radar Challenged for Ghalams success story:
· Notwithstanding any other provision of the statutes to the contrary, the sate, a county, a city and county, or a municipality MAY NOT REPORT to the department any conviction or entry of judgment against a defendant for violation of a municipal traffic regulation or a traffic violation under state law if the violation was detected through the use of an AVID system (CRS.RVT.42.4.110.5.b, page 130).
· The department has no authority to assess any points against a license under section 42.2.127 upon entry of a conviction or judgment for a violation of a municipal traffic regulation or a traffic violation under state law if the violation was detected through the use of an AVID system. The department may not keep any record of such violation in the official records maintained by the department under section 42.2.121 (CRS.RVT.42.4.110.5.3, page 131). You got nothing to loose but seventy-five dollars for running a red-light so contest it. This plainly states that the judicial system does not find AVID a valid form of proof to convict or punish some one. Even if you are convicted it does not count!
· Say it was not you! The stat, a county, a city and county, or a municipality MAY NOT require a registered owner of a vehicle to disclose the identity of a driver of the vehicle who is detected through the use of an AVID. However, the registered owner may be required to submit evidence that the owner was not the driver at the time of the alleged violation (CRS.RVT.42.4.110.5.e. page 131).
- Look up!
Every traffic light equipped with Photo Radar or AVID must have a sign posted prior to the light. So, if you look around and see a sign, watch the light for RED: The state, a county, a city and county, or a municipality may not use an AVID unless there is posted an appropriate sign in a conspicuous place before the area in which the AVID device is to be used notifying the public that an AVID is in use immediately ahead (CRS.RVT.42.4.110.5.d.I., page 131). Also, you can find maps on the internet that list all of the cameras in Boulder, CO.
