I discussed the fact that red light cameras actually can increase our Fort Worth automobile crashes because the yellow times are shortened, often below the state minimum requirements, which can cause more people to run red lights. Apparently the Fort Worth Police Department hasn’t been getting enough business with their idea, as they are sending out false red light tickets.
One of my paralegals reports that he received a red light camera ticket in the mail yesterday. He quickly realized that the license plate, color, make, and model of the car did not match his.
The ticket had his name, correct plate, and make and model on it, so it was not simply a mailing error, but rather the Fort Worth Red Light Enforcement office looked at a grainy picture of a license plate, made their best guess, and sent out a ticket without ever verifying that their guess matched up with any of the data.
My paralegal drives a 2012 red Ford Fusion.
Here are the pictures that Fort Worth saw and used to issue the ticket.
As you can see, this car looks nothing like a Ford Fusion, and it certainly isn’t red. The license plate number is almost impossible to read, especially the last two digits.