Red Light Ticket in City of Lynnwood in the US
 

Was going to post this in Police forum but noticed it was only for questions regarding the motor vehicle act.

So I got a notice of infraction in the mail from the City of Lynnwood Photo Enforcement Program. The document shows photos of my vehicle in Lynnwood making a right turn at a redlight, the fine print says to treat it like a parking ticket but if I dont pay it will go to collections. In bold letters it also states that if i was making a right hand turn at the time of the incident, the video shows that i failed to come to a complete stop before making the turn.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of situation and what are the consequences if i refuse to pay. Will it actually get sent to collections and how will that affect me (eg. will i be notified if its sent to collections and what happens from there?)

Thanks in advance for your help

i'd pay it if you dont want any problems going back down to the states..

dont bring our bad habits from here down their either (running stale yellows/reds)

the thing is theres only 2 photos, the first one shows me stopped at the light, 2nd one shows me making the right turn

read this thread title "red light district in the city of lynwood". no longer interested.

lol but on a serious note i knew ppl who didnt pay speeding tickets. interest accumulated and after a year they feared being jailed if they ever come back to the usa. they ended up paying it off with interest because they didnt want problems going across the border to go to the bellingham airport for a vacation. this sane exact sequence happened to three separate ppl i know - so just pay it off and get it off your concious before the interest starts
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It's a fucked up but new rule in Lynnwood according to my aunt. At intersections with cameras, it is ILLEGAL to make a right turn on red, even if the incoming lanes are clear. IIRC, here it's fine to go right on red as long as it's clear.

Doesn't make sense, but supposedly it's to prevent accidents from incoming traffic to the right turn.

Its different from a speeding ticket though it clearly states that this does not go on ur driving record and treat it as a parking ticket.. Thanks for the replies tho I guess ill just pay it to avoid any problems
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how much is it?

175
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Same as Montreal. But they actually have big signs saying no right turns on reds.
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YOUZA FOOL FOR MAKING A RIGHT ON A RED. THIS AINT NO CANADA EH!

I don't think this is true. My dad in Seattle told me that they have new signs up now at the intersections that state you must make a full stop before turning right. I know that some of those cameras though are f'd up as I've done a left turn when the left turn arrow was green and I felt a camera flash. I got a ticket shortly after. You can fight it but you'll have to show up to court. They'll send you a date and time that you have to attend. Show up to court on time and state your case, and most likely even if you are guilty, the judge will cut a nice chunk out of your fine anyways.

went down everywhere around cali back in the summer and was told that it was ok to make a right turn on red as long as u make a full stop before u turn...if u dont the camera will get u for the same offense..

I'm not sure what county Lynnwood is in, but I know in Kings County they will send all accounts to collections eventually.

Collections are handled by a company called "AllianceOne" which according to many people is a terrible company to deal with... my experience wasn't bad but they still screwed me.

4-5 years ago I was driving a freshly purchased 04 STI back up to Canada and got nailed for speeding, ticket was something like 450$... well I never paid it. Since then I have been back and forth to WA many times and never had a single issue at the border etc. I finally paid it about 2 weeks ago... I got a bunch of old mail from an Ex-GF and there was a letter in there from AllianceOne, so I just decided I would pay it to avoid any potential border issues. (At the time I got the ticket I lived in Alberta and didnt see myself going to WA anytime soon, so I didn't care about paying)

Now, when I called them to pay the ticket off, they tried to make me pay something like 668$... even though the letter I had from them which was dated a month prior was for 618$. After speaking with their rep. she told me it would be acceptable to pay the 618$ as shown on the letter... so I gave her my CC number and paid it off.

But then a couple weeks later, get my CC statment and what do I see? 668$ charged to my card not 618$... lying fuckin scumbags.

Collections never really did anything but send me 1 letter/year... Though there is many stories of "AllianceOne" putting negative feedback on peoples credit reports in the states, not sure if they can even do that to Canadian citizens... but I guess when you straighten things out with them they are still very reluctant to fix the damage they have done to your credit report.

If I was you I wouldnt be so worried about collections.. I would be more concerned with having issues at the border, I have heard tales of unpaid tickets resulting in refusal of permission to cross... but that could be lies, though I wouldnt chance it.

What other county or cities close to Vancouver where it's illegal to make a right on a red after a complete stop? Not knowing this, I can very easily get a ticket from my plain ignorance.

Well, I heard this through the rumor mill.
One of my friends mentioned that this was true for all of washington.
I thought their traffic laws were state governed, not by county?

Also, I know that some of you like to speed on the highways.
Just thought I'd point out that if you bring that down to Oregon, prepared to pay out your ass. Friend said their ticket was over $500.

so. much. fail.

^nope its by county. different taxes in bellis fair vs cascade mall vs outlets
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Yeah county to county in WA.

BTW A red light is a red light, even if turning right you still have to stop, this is a universal rule, doesn't matter what part of NA you're in, you can/will get nailed for it eventually.

Edit** Not sure now, but a few years ago it was illegal to turn right on a red in Quebec, and also illegal to turn left one way to a one way without complete stop/green light in Quebec... Crazy french people.

I'm pretty sure CorneringArtist is wrong... it's not illegal to turn right on red... but like everywhere else, including Vancouver, you have to come to a full stop before making the turn when the light is red.

I quickly Googled up "Lynnwood right turn red" and didn't see any references to it being illegal, just that there are cameras in place to catch people who roll through it.

I haven't watched this yet, but might be interesting...

I know on the East Coast - namely NYC - it's illegal to turn right on a red. Not sure about other cities.

You are correct...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_turn_on_red

All turns on red (left or right) are forbidden in New York City unless a sign is posted permitting it. This law has been protested but not overturned.

Also illegal in Montreal:

In the province of Quebec, turning right on a red was illegal until a pilot study carried out in 2003 showed that the right turn on red manoeuvre did not result in significantly more accidents. Subsequent to the study, the Province of Quebec now allows right turns on red, except where it is prohibited by a sign. However, owing to locally specific safety concerns, it remains illegal to turn right on a red anywhere on the Island of Montreal.

The more you know...

Thank god I'm in Canada, and not livin in Lynnwood...as for going down for shopping..everybody's gotta be more careful now of their bad habits ;)

and just pay for it...cause it might just become a bigger problem in the future if you don't deal with it now. Plus, it's not super expensive to pay off.

Also if you don't pay and they issue a warrant, next time you get pulled over your going to the slammer til you pay it :p

Theres a handful of streets in downtown Vancouver now where it is illegal to make a right turn on a red (even if it is clear) or right turns onto the street due to the bike lanes. I've seen VPD set up traps ticketing for this.

$175? are you kidding me.

that's pretty shit for a right turn on a red.

Yes, but they are clearly marked as "no right turn on red" sign. I was more concerned with the unmarked streets where it's a common knowledge to locals and signs are not needed.