I have just returned from the mailbox in which I found a Notice of Infraction from the Seattle PD’s Photo Enforcement unit. It’s a photo of my car on the morning of April 9th making a legal right turn at a red light while someone else in an unidentified black car runs the light. Even in the small, crappy, low-res photo they sent me (with a crease through it) you can see my brake lights and blinker are on in photo 1 and I’m around the corner and gone in photo 2. Needless to say, I’ll be going to court on this one, rather than pay $124 to the City of Seattle for bad photo analysis and an inability to catch up to the owner of the black sport sedan blasting through the crosswalk on the other side of the intersection.
What’s really funny is that I can tell you, to the minute, what I was doing from 10 am to 4 pm on that date–I have receipts and odometer readings to prove it–and one thing I wasn’t doing was perpetrating a “red light violation” at the corner of Market and 15th between 10:45:30.5 and 10:45:31.8 am.
I know most people just pay rather than look it over and argue, but really… this is just ridiculous.
Ahhh… gotta love the joy of photography….
My Own Personal Grey 
The photo cops work wonderfully when interpreted correctly, but definitely not in this instance. I wouldn’t pay either. Go get ’em!
The even have a special note on their webpage about photos of right turns being conditional and probably issued to you because you didn’t REALLY stop at the light. We’ll see when I get to the hearing if I was really “rolling” or not. I’m pretty sure not, but if they don’t have conclusive video, there will have to be a discussion.
They tend to be so unaccustomed to people actually showing up to appear in Court that the city attorney often offers a lesser charge or completely dismisses the ticket.
It’s really fun to show up with a folder with pictures inside, looking prepared to present a case to the judge. *giggle*
These are actually done at the “community center” for the district and it’s very informal.
Don’t pay them a red cent! I’d fight it as well!
If they truly caught me, then they caught me, but I’m thinking it unlikely I did anything illegal. It’s not a safe intersection to “run”.