Photo Enforcement P2: Hiding
So I got a traffic ticket, but I didn’t feel like I really deserved it. I think that’s a natural response. I looked around on the internet to find out what other people had done about their ticket. I found a thread in a message board titled, “Fighting Photo Radar for Dummies“. Â The thing is about 10 pages long and was started at the end of July in 2009. The author gave some pretty good insight, so I thought I’d try it out and then share some of the info here.The first thing with Photo Enforcement is that you have 4 options to respond to them with. You can Pay the Fine, Identify the Driver, Request a Trial, or Attend Driving School. I decided to not make contact with the court at all for fear that I may waived my legal service of summons and complaint. If I don’t show up on the appointed day, and I don’t make contact with them, then they have to go out of their way to contact me. This means that the court will have to decide what to do about me.
I found out that the court updates their cases online on Wednesdays. The website is here.  After finding my name in their system, I waited to see if the case came up as Adjudicated or Terminated. That would mean that it’s over. Otherwise, the case is still active and it is likely that they’ll attempt to serve me with a summons and complaint for the case. These photo enforcement systems are snapping a ton of photos. The court has 120 days for the service to occur from the filing of the complaint with the court. This is the part where you go into Hiding. If you can avoid opening the door to strangers for the next 120 days, the case will drop.
This was a MAJOR stress! Every time somebody would knock on the door, I would ask somebody else to check the window or just ignore it. I really hated feeling like I was running from the law. But alas, on December 11th, some portly guy holding a cup of iced tea came looking for me. I answered the door, he asked for me, and I said I was unavailable and closed the door. I felt bad about it. He started looking at the paper work and then reading it aloud and stuffed it into my door handle. Arizona allows “substitute” service to cohabitating adults. If the server sees an adult (loosely defined as older teenagers too) in the house/premises but is unable to get physically close to them and give them the summons, they can leave it on the doorstep or tape it to the door, etc.
crap.
by 
