Citations From Iowa City Trip

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In Oregon there are a few municipalities that outsource radar camera ticketing. However since they are NOT government agencies they cannot prosecute you for refusing to pay a fine! Have no idea if that pertains to IA or not!
 

tjgopher said:
I think I'm correct here, but someone who knows more can offer more.

I think technically, you don't have to pay it. You will have a warrant out for your arrest. So, as long as you never get pulled over in Iowa, or move to Iowa and get an Iowa driver's license, I think you're okay. But, if you get pulled over there, you're going to get taken to jail for a short period and will likely have bigger fine than if you just send in the money now.

Again, I could be wrong.
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I am also a past victim of the Cedar Rapids Trap. I decided to follow the advice of our friendly internet lawyers, and decided I'd just be careful in Iowa - and avoid spending time or money in Cedar Rapids out of spite.

Several months later, I got a letter from the City's Attorney stating that they would be filing the unpaid ticket as an unpaid bills with the credit reporting agencies unless I paid up. I don't know what impact such a filing would do, but I took the threat, and paid it - $75 at the time.
 

CurveballJesus said:
If you are an outstater, there really are no repercussions to not paying it, other than having it tacked on to any other fines (plus late fees) if you get in legal trouble in Iowa later. If you are a resident though, they will hold your tax refund until you clear the ticket.

There's already been a lawsuit like the one in Minneapolis, but the Iowa plaintiff lost.
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His lawyer must have went to school at Iowa.
 

I do know at one time the company that operated the cameras got a cut of each ticket paid. So the more they “catch”, the more money they get.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I do know at one time the company that operated the cameras got a cut of each ticket paid. So the more they “catch”, the more money they get.
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That happened in numerous places in one form or another.

The outcomes were pretty obvious considering the incentive.
 


Cedar Rapids got me on way back from Citrus Bowl in 2015.
I was frustrated for a couple days over it and then paid the fine.
It was the notorious I-380 / J Avenue Camera - back then, it wasn’t marked very clearly and people complained. I think they shut them off a couple years ago but started back up early June last year.
 

So how fast were you going in "what was the posted speed zone?"
 

tjgopher said:
I have a friend who got one in Des Moines last year while going to Gopher basketball NCAA tourney game.
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I got one in Des Moines when the NCAA BB tourney was there the first time.
 

Odd cameras with questionable calibration and on a scalp percentage kickback scheme between cities and business would be allowed to continue. That’s truly insane.

We all know of certain municipalities that incorporate odd speed limit intervals, or have poor signage easily blocked by semi-trailers, or shorten yellow light times with clear intent to raise revenue on the unsuspecting. This camera racket takes it to the next level.

This guy determined his city had shorted yellow light times in order to nab more “violators” and took action into his own hands. I’m surprised bored teenagers aren’t taking these things out on a widespread basis.


 



Got a tint ticket years ago driving through Iowa. Now I avoid Iowa altogether on my trips back to MN.
 

Father-In-Law just got his caught-on-camera citation in the mail last week from Iowa. We all stayed in, and drove through, Cedar Rapids when we went down for the game.
 


Panthadad2 said:
Minneapolis tried this a number of years ago. A great citizen took it to the MN Supreme Court and the camera fines were ruled unconstitutional. Lawyers here feel free to correct any errors.
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Red light cameras were placed. The problem if I recall correctly was that police powers were granted to a private company which submitted the citation not directly from a police officer.
 



I would like to put forth that we install a number of these cameras just across the border in Minnesota prior to our 9/18/2020 meeting next season. We'd probably catch more people on their way back home from Diamond Joe's though... Maybe we keep it to Hwy 218 and 63.
 

The tickets are a civil penalty. So if you don't pay them they don't go against your driving record. The city can't even put against your credit report
 

CurveballJesus said:
If you are an outstater, there really are no repercussions to not paying it, other than having it tacked on to any other fines (plus late fees) if you get in legal trouble in Iowa later. If you are a resident though, they will hold your tax refund until you clear the ticket.

There's already been a lawsuit like the one in Minneapolis, but the Iowa plaintiff lost.
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I'm sure I've gone through the trap in Cedar Rapids and other places. SD refuses to provide Iowa with the driver information from the license plate photos. Apparently MN does not.
 

Got one once in Council Bluffs in a rental car. Took like six months to make its way to me. Was staying in Omaha but had to drive into Iowa to the office there.
 


Sooner or later somebody will challenge this practice and the threat to ruin your credit rating.

How accurate is the calibration? What if you are driving one mile over the speed limit, will you be ticketed? Is there a grace tolerance?

This is not about upholding local ordinances or law. This is highly motivated by the profiteering business partner.
 



hungan1 said:
Sooner or later somebody will challenge this practice and the threat to ruin your credit rating.

How accurate is the calibration? What if you are driving one mile over the speed limit, will you be ticketed? Is there a grace tolerance?

This is not about upholding local ordinances or law. This is highly motivated by the profiteering business partner.
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There is a ton of wiggle room. Most people that get ticketed are going 10+ over.
I have never heard someone claim they weren't speeding after getting that ticket.
 

You'd have to wiggle through the pig pen wisely.
 

It
A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Didn't count because the flag had military fringe on it....../s
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The Sovereign Citizen Admiralty argument - always sound as a pound.

Because accidents are of course caused not by bad drivers that happen to be speeding but rather by speed itself it seems warranted for great states like Iowa to require cellular/Bluetooth data metrics monitoring equipment on every registered vehicle. Think of the revenue stream as people try to juggle checking Facebook with monitoring their speedometer. This nirvana cannot be too far in the future.
 

hungan1 said:
Is there a grace tolerance?
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They send tickets to anyone clocked at 65 mph or more (speed limit is 55 mph in the photo area). So, there is a 10 mph grace tolerance.

They claim this is a safety issue because of the "S" curve portion of the freeway through/over downtown. Of course, it is not a safety issue. It is about filling coffer$.
 

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