Red light camera tickets are mailed from Arizona
The Chron's Alexis Grant notes this Wrap Up tidbit:
Drivers ticketed for running red lights at camera-monitored intersections in Houston are sometimes surprised that the tickets are mailed to them not from the city, but from Arizona.
That's because the notices are sent by American Traffic Solutions Inc., the Mesa, Ariz.-based company that runs Houston's camera system.
Violators' payments also go out of state, to a post office box in Ohio, because American Traffic Solutions' payment-processing partner, U.S. Bank, is headquartered in Cincinnati. So drivers who choose not to pay the $75 fine online or contest the violation must send a check or money order payable to the city of Houston, but destined for a Cincinnati address.
U.S. Bank then deposits the money in a city of Houston account, said ATS chief executive officer Jim Tuton.
"Most people are accustomed to sending payments to various locations for payment processing," he said.
All collections go to the city, which pays ATS as much as $5,000 per month per camera.
The city has 20 red-light cameras.
Houston sure has developed some Arizona connections, hasn't it?
Dan Patrick (KSEV-700) was interviewing one of the Kubosh brothers last week (I didn't catch which one) who said that City Controller Annise Parker reported to Council back in November that the red light camera ticket payment rate was 11%. It'd be interesting to know what the percentage is now.
As we've noted before, since the city has changed the red light running-standard to a civil offense at intersections with cameras, the city's only recourse to force payment is to send non-payments to a collection agency. Kubosh said it's unclear whether or not credit agencies will be willing to put those disputes on a person's credit report, with only a camera picture as evidence.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/16/06 09:16 AM | Print |
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