Here at the Law Offices of David A. Rubin, we handle a lot of tickets. Usually we can arrange to keep moving violations off your record so that you don’t get points, your record stays clean, and your insurance rates don’t go through the roof. Sometimes we get questions about those red light or speeding tickets where you just get a picture in the mail. Do you need a lawyer for those? Should you even pay them? The answer is “No” to the first question, and as of the last few months, “No” to the second as well. As to the first, my job as the lawyer is to keep the violation off your record. But part of the deal the municipality offers you is to keep it off your record anyway, usually for payment of $100 – which is pretty cheap. So there isn’t anything that I can do that you can’t do for yourself. As to the second question, I used to say that you should pay it. Its only $100 and why deal with bill collectors, credit ratings, etc. But I think that’s different now. There were always certain constitutional problems with these tickets. Just because the car went through the red light – how do they prove it was you who was driving? More recently though, these tickets have been successfully challenged in the courts because the idea that there are no points and that the tickets are handled differently is at odds with the laws already on the books that say how a red light or a speeding violation must be handled. My best opinion is that as of right now, I don’t think you’ll be seeing too many more of these tickets for now, and if you do, they will be afraid to enforce them. This advice is subject to change – so stay tuned!