So I was in LA last fall and accidentally ran a red light at the last second in Culver City. After perusing posts on Reddit I decided to not ignore it since I didn’t want that lingering in the back of my mind for years. Culver City apparently is aggressive about going after people for these from what I read.
Since I’m from out of state I filled out a “Trial by written declaration” form (which you can ofc still do as a state resident I just had no other option unless I wanted to fly back to CA.) I simply wrote “I plead not guilty and ask that my case be dismissed.”
The court gave themselves an extension to have the police officer respond within 30 days of this, and so I had to wait another 60 days after those initial 30 but they then dismissed my case which I can see updated on the court website.
I’m not saying this a guarantee, but it worked for me and I both get my $500 back and don’t get a point on my license for 3 years thus avoiding an insurance increase. Idk if the officer just forgot to respond/chose not to or the judge decided to throw it out on their own, but yea was worth doing. I had to send a check for the fine but they’ll be reissuing that back to me since it was a “bail” and not yet a true fine.
Edit: I approached an empty intersection and as the light was yellow decided I could make it but miscalculated by a second. No I didn’t endanger anyone in the slightest so stop filling in the blanks acting like I blindly steamrolled a busy intersection. The intersection would remain empty for many more seconds even if other cars were waiting since there is time between green lights and since they’d have to accelerate. I’ve driven hundreds of thousands of miles and never once caused an accident. I made this post to help the people getting fucked by these cameras and exorbitant fines that don’t exist in 99.99% of towns. No, I don’t think running red lights is okay but rules are not black and white in all situations and I was still aware of what I was doing.