In the past, allot of folks have gotten away with all kinds of stuff while they motored around in their freshly rented car. Tickets, wild driving, I mean, everybody wants to know how fast a six cylinder Taurus will accellerate. Right? Well not any more buck-o. And don't even think about letting somebody else drive the car. Here's a little info I think you'll NOT enjoy but you need to see. Oh, almost forgot..........your right to "Due Process", gone with a stroke of the pen.


Rent a car, risk a surprise ticket
Traffic camera operator ATS gets drivers' credit card data from rental companies, so if one of its cameras catches you, an unexpected charge may pop up on your bill.

By Christopher Solomon
MSN Money


You've just rented a car and given the attendant your credit card. Any idea where that card number goes?

You might want to read the fine print.

Since 2008, several of the nation's largest car-rental companies have shared rental and credit card information with a division of American Traffic Solutions, the nation's largest operator of speed-limit and red-light cameras.

As a result, many renters have opened up their credit card statements and been startled to find they've been charged by the company, ATS Processing Services, for a traffic infraction they never knew they'd committed, along with a $30 administrative fee.

Fines generated by red-light and speed cameras run from as little as $50 to more than $1,000. Some states ban any reporting to insurance companies, but most don't.

ATS and the big rental-car companies they work with -- Hertz, Advantage, Avis and Budget -- say they've simply streamlined the process.


The arrangement has some renters surprised and angry, however. A more direct route for charges

The deal was struck for a simple enough reason: The old way was a mess.

Not long ago, Hertz received hundreds of thousands of tickets annually worth millions of dollars in fines, says spokeswoman Paula Rivera. Hertz would pay those tickets, try to figure out who was renting the vehicle at the time and then go after the renter (usually charging his or her credit card and adding a $20 service charge), Rivera says.
Under the new arrangement, when an ATS camera snaps a picture or video of a car, ATS Processing Services figures out if it's a rental car. If it is, the company either refers the alleged violator's name and information to authorities, who send a ticket in the mail, or pays the fine and then charges the renter's credit card along with a $30 fee, explains James Tuton, ATS' chief executive officer.
"We help redirect the fine back to the person who was driving the vehicle and committed the offense," Tuton says.

The $30 administrative fee is justified because "we have to process thousands of pieces of mail," electronic and otherwise, every day, Tuton says. "We have a level of risk, too," in instances in which the company pays the fine first and then tries to get reimbursed later. Accelerating past due process?

ATS cameras are used by more than 200 cities and other government entities. The company owns and operates the equipment and manages the resulting traffic tickets, either for a share of the fines generated or for a per-camera fee.

Some frequent car renters have complained about the arrangement on sites such as FlyerTalk.com, saying ATS essentially acts as both a prosecutor and judge. A privacy advocate likewise was concerned about the arrangement.
"I think the biggest problem with the program is that it removes due process from the equation for the customer," says John Verdi, a senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC. "Typically, folks are able to challenge any violations," whether they're moving violations or parking violations, before any fine is paid, Verdi says. "Here, that process gets short-circuited."
Just because the car-rental contract warns of the arrangement in the fine print doesn't make it right, he adds. "Courts tend to frown on private contracts that pre-empt" a person's day in court, he says.

'Tacking on the fee was one issue'

Sam Khatib knew he was guilty; the issue for him was more a feeling that his privacy had been violated. While working in Houston, Khatib, a 24-year-old consultant, didn't come to a full stop at a red light before taking a right turn. (Los Angeles estimates as much as 80% of its red-light violations are right-on-red offenders.) Khatib didn't know it, but his car was videotaped by ATS.

About a month later, "I got something in my mailbox from ATS saying I owed them $25 as a processing fee" and that his credit card would be charged if he didn't pay. The letter also notified him that the local authorities had been forwarded his information; sure enough, a ticket for $75 soon arrived in the mail.

"I would understand it if they forwarded the ticket," Khatib says, "but tacking on the fee was one issue for me. The other thing was that Avis provided my information to them. To me that seemed a bit weird."


It felt, Khatib says, like a breach of privacy, even though he later saw the fine print explaining the arrangement with ATS. If you dispute an infraction

Others have complained that it's not so easy to fight a case of mistaken identity, reverse a charge if you argue a fine and win or get a duplicate charge wiped off a credit card if you've already paid the fine.

Tuton disagrees, saying complaints are rare. If you dispute an infraction in court and win, simply send in the documentation and the company will reimburse both the fine and the $30 fee, he says. The company will do the same if you prove you paid a fine. ATS will also check on a fine's payment for you, says Sherri Teille, the company's vice president of marketing.
Despite the grumbling, odds are good the arrangement is here to stay, just as those traffic cameras are. ATS has 2,200 nationwide and plans to add 800 more in the very near future -- one more reason to be careful in your rental car.
Offenders can view their car committing an infraction here. The Governors Highway Safety Association has a state-by-state rundown of laws governing camera enforcement here. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety keeps a list of cities using red-light and speed cameras here.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...se.aspx?page=1

 

Fortunately our state recognizes photo-radar as unconstitutional.

 

That's good but, charges for over the limit parking, parking tickets etc are still applicable unless your state has something written to stop those as well.

 

Burden of proof is on the operator, period.
act responsibly! is the message as the companies and cities were taking a huge loss on the 'free wild rides'.
Is this loss of freedom/privacy/due process? no. you entered into an agreement to operate their product in the manner governed by law and safety.

you pay to be at disneyland? same thing here. liability.
then the lawyers come in to protect the 'business loss'.
bottom line is you have to do five times more to prove innocence, and sometimes you can't even get the proof. (traffic cams owed by ATS are not subpeonaed as they are private property and fallible)

another little gem, as I experienced, is the insurance you pay for (whether your own or the rental companies') is for any damage. my rented charger (i did test the speedometer) was parked in a lit city parking space and was hit.
other vehicle took off. State farm paid the repair but i was stuck with a 400 dollar administration fee from the rental place (thrifty or thefty as I now call them). my stubborn nature says- why should I be charged? the repairs were paid for and your company did nothing. State farm processed it all. Guess what showed up on a credit report with a 200 point drop for your credit rating/

just so ya know, that is non combatible either. you need to go to the home office of thrifty and file in federal appeals court or say $35,000 legal initial costs. me? i have four more years of waiting for it to fall off the credit report, I may be stubborn but i pay with cash; don't need 'no stinkin' credit'....

where do you think the gov learned to tax everything?

caveat emptor is for buyer beware- 2010 version is tor emptor everyone beware

 

itll be ok...
all you have to do is not break the laws.
Just wait till they pass a law that rentals have a special tag. then camera operation companies can bypass all laws. if they see your car, you get a ticket.

 

Heidi, I have to disagree on one point. Your right to due process is violated because........The money is automatically added to your credit card and paid to the municipality, ie, it's the same as paying the ticket, a guilty plea. In Alabama, you can stipulate and appeal directly to the county for a jury trial. Once again, a legal right removed because the ticket was paid first. I think rental companies and the red light camera folks are going to get a big one broke off in their respective rumps. It'll just take dinging the wrong person's credit card. Patience grasshopper.

 

Why can't the people holding the credit cards dispute the charge to the card? Then the shoe is on the other foot. As far as that goes, the legal charge could be appealed and if over-turned, the monetary charges to the credit card be reversed. Other than the aggravation of having to go thru all that garbage, (and that pesky little presumption of innocence thingy), it seems reasonable to me.

 

Both correct.

I rent cars 40 to 50 times a year and never have had a charge come in that was not justified. It helps if you don't speed or run red lights but if you do then you really do not have a reason to complain about any charge.

 

ive had some that should have been charged that never were charged... uhm 120kph in an 80 in a tunnel in a foreign country.

 

yeah, we know ALL about you, (heheh kidding) you still didn't pay that european ticket didya?!

TRad, the due process is circumvented only for a short while by the company directly paying a debt. (per understanding of commerce law, thank your democratic legislature for that) YOU can get (ad hominem) by applying directly (within 90 days) to the Court of record a request for trial.

there's a movie about this- ' Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels'.....

individual states have to deny this commerce law on the grounds of meritous evidence or proving the vehicle was there, but the driver is guilty. it's all about the money , baby!

so yell at your legislatures! tee hee

remember the old investigative trap- can you prove you were home last night at 3AM?
'I was sleeping'
prove it.

 

Admit nothing, deny everything and demand proof!

 

great i just rented a lamborgini and toped it out on the beltway to see what it would doand went past a speed camera! hold on, somebody in a swat uniform just knocked on my front door........BRB

 

NOT!

 

Admit nothing, deny everything, and make counter accusations.

 

I just start narcin on my neighbors....win-win.