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Old 10-24-2008, 12:24 PM
Scott N's Avatar
Scott N Scott N is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary
Posts: 7,506
Default Contesting a Photo Radar Ticket

Has anyone tried to fight a photo radar ticket in traffic court? A few weeks ago I was driving home on Memorial Drive here in Calgary and just as a car was passing me, the tell tale flash of the photo radar van went off. I'm sure that I wasn't speeding, and surely not doing the 63 km/ hour (this is a 50 km zone) that the ticket indicates. The camera only flashed once.

I called the traffic enforcement office and asked if they would be able to provide the picture a few seconds before or after they took the picture that they took of my truck. The officer informed me that the privacy laws in Alberta wouldn't allow for that, which is understandable. She also informed me that any photo that has two vehicles in it is automatically tossed out. My truck is the only vehicle in the picture sent to me.

I'm sure that I was not speeding, and I also am sure that I would have seen a second flash of the camera if the car that was passing me had also got tagged.

I'm tempted to go to my court date and fight this, but I have no evidence to fight the photo that the police have of my truck. Think I should fight this, or just suck up and pay the $85? I've always viewed photo radar as a cash cow rather than traffic enforcement / safety, and it ticks me off that I seem to have received a ticket for someone else's speeding. I have no idea of how the cameras work, so I don't know how they are "aimed" and how the photo is taken. Is it possible that I am getting screwed here? And is it worth fighting? I don't want to waist a day in court if I don't stand a chance.