[Archived] City of Alexandria Discovers Erroneous Red-Light Camera Ticket Citations, Issues Refunds

For Immediate Release: February 3, 2022

The City of Alexandria will dismiss erroneously issued red-light speeding citations and provide full refunds to impacted customers as a corrective action. The refunds come after a review showed the red-light speeding camera at Duke and South Walker streets was issuing tickets without an amnesty period of 0.5 seconds. Virginia law requires all automated red-light enforcement cameras to incorporate this amnesty period, meaning that citations will not be issued until a light turns red and 0.5 seconds have elapsed.

Redflex Group, who at the time operated the City’s automated red-light camera program, discovered that a programming error led to citations being issued incorrectly. A comprehensive review concluded that—between January 26, 2016 and October 4, 2019— 4,709 citations were inadvertently issued and $187,673.35 in fines were collected. The total number of erroneous citations issued accounts for less than a half percent (.047%) of all citations issued during the same period.    

Customers who were affected by this error and paid their fine will be mailed a letter that describes how to process their refund. For more information, contact the photo enforcement customer service call center at 877.847.2338, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and follow the prompts. Before calling, please have your citation number or the vehicle’s license plate information (at the time of the citation) available. 

Additional protections to safeguard against future programming errors have been implemented, including monthly and quarterly operational audits to ensure all cameras are programmed correctly and in compliance with Virginia law.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Andrea Blackford, Editorial Communications Manager, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.

This news release is available at alexandriava.gov/125982.