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1. Am I still responsible for my ticket since there was a lawsuit challenging the authority of the City’s vendor to perform red light related services for the City of Dallas and if I already paid my ticket, do I get a refund? 1. Am I still responsible for my ticket since there was a lawsuit challenging the authority of the City’s vendor to perform red light related services for the City of Dallas and if I already paid my ticket, do I get a refund? You may have heard about the lawsuit, Amanda Ward v. ACS State and Local Solutions Inc., d/b/a LDC Collection Systems, which challenged the authority of ACS to perform its work for the City of Dallas’ “red light camera” program. The City of Dallas was not a party to that lawsuit. On March 23, 2009, the court issued an order granting summary judgment to ACS and dismissing Ms. Ward’s claims. In short, there is no court order in effect that affects the City’s right to administer and enforce its "red light camera" program, including collecting civil fines from violators. Current and past outstanding fines and penalties are still due. 2. Why is the City of Dallas implementing the SafeLight Dallas Stops on Red program? Red light running is a serious problem. According to the Federal Highway Administration in 2004, there were 190,000 injuries and over 900 deaths related to people running red lights. Over 150 communities in the United States currently use red light cameras, including eight of the 10 largest U.S. cities. Texas has the fourth highest number of red light running fatalities per capita in the nation. The purpose of the program is to improve public safety by increasing enforcement of red light laws. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that red light camera enforcement in conjunction with public awareness can modify driving behavior and has been shown to reduce red light violations and intersection crashes. The goal of the program is to reduce the number of right angle collisions and related injuries/fatalities citywide by 25% through the incremental expansion of automated photo and video cameras within the City of Dallas. 3. What is a red light running violation? A violation occurs when a motorist enters an intersection after the signal light has turned red. Motorists who are already in an intersection when the signal changes to red - while waiting to turn, for example - aren't red light running and are not ticketed. 4. How does the automated red light enforcement camera system work? Each approach equipped with automated red light camera equipment will have a series of digital cameras installed near the roadway. The camera system is connected to the traffic signal and receives an active output when the traffic signal turns red. The system also uses radar detectors to measure the speed of cars just before they reach the intersection stop line. The camera is triggered to take the first photo when two conditions are met: 1) the traffic signal outputs an active red signal and 2) a vehicle approaching the intersection stop line is traveling above a pre-set minimum speed. The camera immediately takes a second photo to show that the vehicle proceeded through the intersection on red. The two photos include the date, time of day, time elapsed since the beginning of the red signal An electronic flash produces clear images of vehicles under all light and weather conditions. Neither the camera system nor the red-light camera system operators have control over the traffic signal timings or traffic signal control equipment. The traffic signal timings and equipment are designed, operated and maintained by City staff and are completely independent of the red light camera system. 5. Why isn't conventional police enforcement sufficient? Enforcing traffic laws in dense urban areas by traditional means poses special difficulties and dangers for police. After a violation has occurred in the presence of a police officer, the officer must often times follow the violator through the red light to stop it, this can endanger the police officer, pedestrians, and other motorists. Most communities do not have the resources for police to patrol intersections as often as needed in order to ticket all red light runners. Research indicates that traditional enforcement has an immediate impact, but camera programs work round-the-clock and free police to focus on other enforcement needs. 6. What if I run a red light and am cited by an officer, then receive a Notice of Violation in the mail for the same offense? Under these circumstances the Notice of Violation issued with the automated red light camera equipment should be dismissed. It is the violator’s responsibility to provide this information to the hearing office for dismissal. The violator would still be responsible for the handwritten citation issued by the police officer for violation of Transportation Code Section 544.007. 7. Do the cameras photograph every vehicle passing through an intersection? No. This technology is intended to catch vehicles who enter the intersection after the signal has turned red. Only violations are recorded. 8. Will the red light cameras take a picture of the driver of the vehicle? No. The cameras do not capture an image of the driver. This is a civil violation assessed against the owner of the vehicle; as such, there is no need to identify the driver. Photos are taken of vehicles moving away from the camera and into the intersection. All that can be seen in the photo is the rear end of the vehicle and the license plate. 9. Are red light cameras considered a revenue source for the City? The red light camera system is intended to change driver behavior and encourage safety, ultimately reducing crimes and saving lives. The program will be funded by those drivers who refuse to stop at red lights and violate the City Ordinance. The revenue generated from the program will go toward paying for the program. Additional revenue will be utilized for public safety programs including traffic engineering improvements and traffic enforcement. 10. Where are the cameras located? 11. How were the intersections in the program selected? Transportation engineers selected sites to create the most immediate impact on red light related crashes and driver behavior. They used police accident reports and constructed crash diagrams to identify intersections with red-light related crash trends. They also selected intersections with a high frequency of red-light violations using police red-light citation records and by making on site observations at high volume or congested intersections. Improvements at these sites will be measured by the reduction in crashes and violations at each specific camera site. Other cities using red light cameras have found that sites with cameras have a “halo” affect on surrounding intersections. This halo affect reduces violations and accidents at not only the intersections with cameras but also intersections in the surrounding area. Knowing that this halo affect occurs, cameras will not only be placed at intersection with crash trends, but also strategically placed geographically to maximize the total area of influence. 12. Does someone review the citation before it is issued? Certified SafeLight Officers review photos of violations before a citation is issued to ensure that there was a true red light violation. Tickets are then mailed to vehicle owners only in cases where it is clear the vehicle ran the red light. 13. Will the citation add points to the driver's record? No. Citations issued with an automated red light camera are civil citations, therefore neither insurance nor license points are added. 14. How are citations appealed? I do not want to pay my ticket. Instead, I want to contest this citation. Can this be done over the Internet? Our Website does not support contesting a ticket online. You may contact the Adjudication Office at 214-670-4830, between 8:15 a.m. - 5:15 p.m., Monday-Friday to obtain additional information concerning contesting your ticket. Your request to contest must be submitted in writing in person or by mail. You must contest your ticket by the due date that is stated on the front of your notice.
15. If after a hearing I am held liable by the Adjudication Hearing Officer is there a means to appeal their decision? Yes. A person found liable by the Adjudication Hearing Officer may appeal this decision to the Dallas Municipal Court. Instructions on how to schedule an appeal will be available from the Adjudication Hearing Officer as well as from the Municipal Court Clerk’s Office at 16. What is the citation fine? As of September 1, 2007, a red light violation carries a civil penalty of $75.00 for each violation. If not paid within 30 days from the date of issuance, a $25 penalty is assessed. The program is a partnership between the City’s Public Works and Transportation Department (PWT) and ACS State and Local Government Solutions. PWT has a project manager responsible for administration of the program and certified SafeLight Officers who review and issue all citations. ACS is responsible for the camera installation and maintenance, correspondence processing, payment processing, and administrative support. 18. I don't have the ticket number for the red light violation citation I received. What can I do? Tickets can be looked up multiple ways by using your license plate or IPP#. If you do not have this information, you can call our Customer Service Office at 1-866-247-1951. 19. I think I may have more than one ticket. Can I pay all of them over the Internet? Of course. If more than one ticket exists on your vehicle (same license plate, same registered owner), they will be displayed as a courtesy. You have the option to pay any or all of the tickets by clicking the box next to each ticket you want to pay. 20. Can I get a receipt for the ticket(s) I pay over the Internet? Yes. You can print a receipt from your personal printer for payments made over the Internet. Once you have selected the ticket(s) to be paid, and entered the credit card information, click on the "Submit" button. Your credit card number will be validated and the amount of the charge will be submitted. If the card is valid and sufficient credit is available to make the payment, your credit card company will issue an approval back to our web site. The payment will be applied against the ticket(s) immediately, and you will see the charge on your next statement. You should print the online receipt for your records, and if requested, you can be e-mailed a receipt by providing an e-mail address. 21. I do not feel comfortable giving my credit card information over the Internet. Is this site secure? Our web site uses 128-bit encryption which is the highest level of encryption available. This is the same security used on all web-payment applications. For your security and assurance, this site does not store any information about your credit card. Once an approval or rejection is received, the information is purged from our system. 22. Will there be time periods when the payment system is unavailable? The system will be unavailable from 3:00 am - 3:30 am Central time, Monday - Saturday and from 3:00 am - 5:00 am Central time on Sunday. 23. If I am experiencing other technical problems completing my transaction, how can I get help? If you are experiencing other technical problems or have questions beyond the information listed on the web site, please call the Customer Service Office at 1-866-247-1951 between 8:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. CST, Monday-Friday. 24. I sold my vehicle prior to receiving this ticket, but the new owner has not re-registered the car. Is there a form I can submit to the City? If you no longer own the ticketed vehicle, then, please mail a copy of the following:
If you do not know who you sold your vehicle to then perform the following steps:
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Red Light Camera Safety Program