Arizona's Photo Radar Lawyer

Scottsdale, AZTraffic court judges may not be big fans of attorney Michael Kielsky, but his clients love him. Since Kielsky began fighting photo radar tickets in 2009, he has successfully squashed tickets for about 85 percent of his photo radar clients.

"Well, you don't win these cases on the facts," says Kielsky.

That may sound like a surprising statement, but when you understand the issues around photo radar, like Kielsky does, it all starts to make sense. "Not only is it unfair," says Kielsky, "much of the time, the agencies and the courts that are enforcing these judgements are not adhering to the rules of law."

About His Clients

Arizonians have good reason to fight hard for their rights against photo radar tickets. A conviction of failing to stop at a red light can have devastating effects. "For example," says Kielsky, "people who have a commercial driver's license can lose their jobs because of a single ticket."

A red light violation conviction in Arizona results in a three-point penalty on your driving record that triggers insurance rate increases. In addition, the motor vehicle office requires red light violators to complete an eight-hour traffic survival course. The course must be completed (at your own expense) within 90 days or your license is suspended.

"We know that most of the photo radar citations for running red lights are not tickets an officer would have issued," says Kielsky from the Scottsdale firm of Kielsky Rike. "These tickets are based on the fact that you crossed that imaginary line sometimes a tenth of a second after the light turned red. No police officer would issue a ticket for that."

Right on Red

Many of the citations are issued on so-called "right on red" turns. "There is nothing unsafe about that," says Kielsky "but the driver failed to come to a complete stop as measured by the equipment, but for all intents and purposes under the law, it is a red light violation and treated the same as if a driver sailed through an intersection at 40 mph."

Due Process

Alleged photo radar violators are usually confronted with a wave of technical evidence at their hearings, according to Kielsky, which is difficult, almost impossible for them to counter.

One of the ways Kielsky has delivered successful outcomes for his clients is to argue the case on personal service. "They can't just mail you a ticket in the mail," says Kielsky. "Arizona requires that the citation be personally served to you. This is not a problem if you get pulled over by an officer—that's your personal service."

Kielsky says that "process server companies" routinely take "shortcuts" and present evidence to the court that does not conform to "due process" rules.

"The system is profit motivated," says Kielsky. "And it is not fair."

Michael Kielsky is a name partner with the firm of Kielsky Rike in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kielsky earned his JD at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. He also has a B.SC in computer science. He has written and blogged extensively on photo radar law. The firm also handles cases related to bankruptcy, civil litigation, contract law, criminal law and family law.