Does A Red Light Camera Flash Mean You'll Get A Ticket? Here's What You Should Know

Imagine you're sitting at an intersection with a red traffic light, and suddenly you hear a siren. You look in the rearview mirror and it's an ambulance and fire engine. You and the cars behind you have nowhere to go unless you pull forward, so you perform your civic duty and move your car to clear the way. Flash. The traffic camera took a picture. Don't fret because there's a good possibility that you won't receive a citation. Even though the red light camera is automated, that camera isn't going to decide your fate on its own. On the other end of it is a human being whose job it is to determine whether a ticket is warranted.

Moving out of the way for EMS vehicles, such as a fire truck honking three times, is one of the few excuses for tripping a red light camera. In 2011 in Columbus, Ohio, over 1,700 drivers ran a red light without receiving a ticket. Of course, they had a good reason for it and the officer who analyzed the images was able to determine bad weather was the culprit.

There are many peace officers who might view the footage and not issue a citation, like Officer Ron Custer who told The Columbus Dispatch in 2011, "If I wasn't going to stop them on the street, I wasn't going to stop them on the camera." It's unknown if a motorcycle stuck at a red light would be excused from a citation, but it's not worth testing.

Red light cameras detect motion when the traffic light is red. If it detects a car moving up to the white stop bar while the light is red, it snaps two pictures of the vehicle. Both images are of the rear of the car. Cities may vary in what their red light cameras snap a photo of, but some take a picture of the car as it's approaching the stop bar and the red light. The second picture shows the position of the car in the intersection while the light is red. There may also be cameras that capture a 12-second video.

Due to how traffic lights work, there may be instances when a camera takes a picture while the light is green. This doesn't necessarily mean it's taking a picture of you. Sometimes a car might enter an intersection from a different direction and the camera is most likely taking a picture of them. Other times the camera might not be calibrated properly. Maintenance crews frequently check red light cameras to ensure they're calibrated and working as intended.

However, there are times when drivers receive a citation for running a red light when they either didn't realize they ran the light or genuinely didn't. If that ever happens, drivers are allowed to view the footage of their infraction, and if they still believe they did nothing wrong, they have the opportunity to make their case in court. They just have to show up to the courthouse on the date that's on the citation.