If you talked to me a week ago about hiking in L.A., one place would have come out of my mouth: Temescal Canyon. Nevermind that when I was last there on June 25th it was majorly overgrown so that numerous spots were like bee gauntlets and so dusty that my friend slipped and twisted her ankle - that sort of stuff tends to be a temporary state, and it remained my favorite urban hike. I can't count how many times I've recommended it to people.
And yes, I pay to park in the lot. This time I didn't have change to put $7 in the iron ranger, so I put in a $10. To support the park.
Then last Thursday, I got a $175 dollar "Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Stop Sign Photo Enforcement Program Administrative Citation" in the mail. Which I have only until August 15th to pay. And which, if I would like to request an administrative hearing about, I still have to shell out the $175 dollars first. I will have to put it on a credit card, because I don't actually have that much available spending money in two months, much less one.
Yes, I ran the stop sign. In fact, they have a charming video I can watch online for 60 days.
That said, $175 is an absurd amount of money for running a stop sign, and more importantly, camera traps are currently illegal in the state of California (see this article in the Palisades Post regarding a current class action lawsuit) - and this ticket seems to be from a private company that runs the camera. Had I known I'd gotten a ticket that day, from an actual law enforcement officer, I would have known to pull back on my grocery shopping and gas consumption so I could pay the ticket without having to put it on a credit card.
Also, I now loath Temescal Canyon with the strength of a thousand suns. I will never hike there again, and I will actively warn people not to go there. Honestly, the entire thing makes me sick to my stomach, $175 is so much money to me. I'll never be able to go there without feeling horrible.
Note that these cameras are in five locations I will personally avoid like the plague: two in Temescal Gateway Park, Two in Franklin Canyon Park, and one in Topanga (according to the Palisades Post article).
Did I run a stop sign? Yes, I did. And if the ticket was a reasonable amount of money and issued by the state of California via an actual law enforcement officer, I would feel a heck of a lot less scammed.
Are $175 tickets worth forever alienating your patrons? I guess so.
My neighbor got a camera ticket for taking a right on red with no oncoming traffic but it wasn't a complete stop. It was over $500! And they wouldn't lower the payment. It's RIDICULOUS. They're not punishing people and discouraging them with an inconvenience fee, they're taking up to a month's rent and really messing with livelihoods. It's so greedy.
Posted by: Emilyrichmond.wordpress.com | July 16, 2011 at 11:09 PM
What happens if you don't pay it?
Posted by: Barry Leiba | July 17, 2011 at 06:50 AM
So sorry to hear this happened to you. It IS an outrage.
If you haven't already, Google up "How to beat a photo enforcement ticket," and see what your options are in potentially getting it dismissed.
Posted by: Will Campbell | July 17, 2011 at 07:42 AM
As I understand it, there is no way they can actually enforce this. Because the ticket was not handed to you by an officer, you can claim you never received it, or take it to court on the illegality front. Of course, now that you've blogged about receiving it, it's a little late for that...
Posted by: Anonymous | July 18, 2011 at 10:13 AM
Yeah, so the weird thing is, it's not a normal ticket because it's from the park. So the normal channels of recourse aren't available. So I sent my payment and requested my hearing. Sigh.
Anonymous, I'm simply not the type to play the "I didn't get it" game. The chance of that biting me in the ass at just the wrong time is too high. Tangling with bureaucracy in that way is a little too high risk for me.
Posted by: lizriz | July 24, 2011 at 10:35 PM
Perhaps a day late, but...
Headline: Drivers can disregard red-light camera tickets in L.A.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-red-light-cameras-20110727,0,6729565.story?track=rss
Posted by: Will Campbell | July 26, 2011 at 08:52 AM
Yeah, it's not that kind of ticket, it's outside the normal system (hence the class action lawsuit), but thanks for the link. I've requested a hearing on the Temescal ticket, and am planning to bring these sorts of articles, although I suspect they won't care.
Posted by: lizriz | July 26, 2011 at 09:27 AM
how did the hearing go?
Posted by: Anon | July 28, 2011 at 10:42 PM
Hasn't even been scheduled yet! I just mailed in my payment and hearing request this week. I suspect it will be weeks from now.
Posted by: lizriz | July 29, 2011 at 09:04 AM
They cannot enforce since they are not a government agency!
If you call 800 number you will give your number which they will use to harrass you to pay, calling for months!
Posted by: tim | January 09, 2012 at 10:21 AM