What You NEED to Know About Arizona Photo Radar Violations

Traffic enforcement is adopting new technologies to help ensure that traffic laws are being followed and to catch those who violate them. One of the developments involves the use of photo radar, which automatically photographs vehicles that are speeding or running red lights.

What is a Photo Radar Violation?

A photo radar violation is a type of speeding ticket that is issued when a driver is caught speeding by a photo radar camera. Vehicles that are flashed by a photo radar for speeding or running a red light receive a Notice of Violation in the mail a couple of months later. These notices will contain photos of the vehicle in the event of the violation and a request for the driver or owner of the vehicle to pay the fines.

What to Do If You Receive a Notice of Photo Radar Violation?

Some people think that a Notice of Violation is a court document and receiving it requires them to act on it. But despite the notice requesting for a fine to be paid or for the violating driver to be identified, it is not an official court citation.

According to Arizona law, a notice of violation is not a court document, and hence, the receiver is not obligated to respond to it. Lawyers recommend that this notice is ignored as most jurisdictions do not end up serving a traffic citation and complaint if they don’t respond to the notice.

What to Do If You are Served a Citation From the Court?

While photo radar violations often end with the driver ignoring the notice of violation, some jurisdictions do opt to serve a traffic citation and complaint. This may come a certain period after the notice and served the same way as any other civil lawsuit, usually in person by certified mail.

This is the only point when a person can act on the complaint. Because a citation is an official court document in Arizona, they should follow through with the penalty, whether it’s going to traffic school or paying the fine. But if it’s only a notice of violation, there is no need to act on it as most jurisdictions won’t even try to serve the vehicle owner for ignoring the notice.