CEC said:
1) I don't make a point of running red lights either but I got a photo ticket once. I guess the yellow light was a bit shorter than I expected. Never say never.
2) Famous last words.
3) Good idea until you get pulled over and the officer sees you have of unpaid violations.
4) Good luck. I will come visit you during visiting hours.
My, what a warm, friendly tone your response took.
Let's take it point by point.
1) I don't make a point of running red lights either but I got a photo ticket once. I guess the yellow light was a bit shorter than I expected. Never say never.
With my driving habits this risk is minimal.
2) Photo radar is never instant-on. It blasts out X-band or K-Band 24/7, and the V1 picks it up in plenty of time.
2) Famous last words.
Well, if you have evidence to the contrary, I'm sure we'd all like to know about it. Photo radar as it exists in the real world either sits unattended and blasts all passing traffic, or else is operated from a van and blasts a lot of passing traffic. Either way you get plenty of warning.
3) Good idea until you get pulled over and the officer sees you have of unpaid violations.
What unpaid violations? None of them would ever touch me personally or go on my personal license.
Think it through, man. If the cops take a picture of a license plate and it turns out to be owned by a corporation, all they can do is ask the corporation who was driving the car at the time; and if the corporation can't (or won't) answer, there's not much else they can do. Obviously the corporation itself does not drive the car, so the corporation can't be convicted of the offense, and the cops are out of luck. The law is clear on this point.
4) Good luck. I will come visit you during visiting hours.
You just get more and more charming as you go. But I don't think you can visit me, because you must live very far away - I can't think of anywhere I'd be driving where they put people in jail for contesting a traffic fine.
Okay, here's how it goes, legally. First off, service of a ticket by regular mail does not satisfy the legal service requirements unless you sign and return the form stating that you waive your right to formal process service. (Note that this is different from receiving a ticket in an ordinary traffic stop - in that situation you are being served by the officer. The photo ticket has no such encounter and leaves the service requirement unfulfilled.) The mailed photo ticket will contain various threats of additional fees and penalties if you don't sign the form, but you are under no obligation to do so, and if you don't, they have to hire a process server and serve you a summons in person. I'm given to understand that a lot of jurisdictions stop right there.
But let's assume that you do then receive a personal summons. The next step is to send an attorney to court to ask the state to prove you were the person driving the car at the time. Without your drivers license or your personal face present in the courtroom, the state has no way to prove that you were the driver. As I understand it, this is usually sufficient to get the case dismissed. If not, then you can go ahead with the legality and constitutional arguments, at which point you will probably be offered a dismissed-with-payment deal in exchange for going away and not creating a legal precedent.