From the Mailroom: Is This a Real Speeding Ticket?

You might think that just because you were in a rental car when you last visited the Valley of the Sun, that the long arms of the law won't find you if you break our traffic laws. Recently I received the following email:

I am wondering if a company called Violation Management Services is a real company? If so, can you explain what they do? My boss rented a car over Thanksgiving in Phoenix AZ and received a summons from this company. It's confusing to me because one would think this would come from a state patrolman. And there is no copy of the summons here. It just says "Speed greater than reasonable and proper." What exactly does that mean? How does a camera take a picture of speed anyway? Any help you can offer would be great. Thank you.

I responded with the following information:

In the Phoenix area we have cameras that can tell if someone is speeding because there are sensors placed at strategic positions. If someone passes the sensors in a time that is less than would be expected for how those sensors and camera are set, then they are said to be speeding. The cameras take a photo of the driver, and send a citation to the owner of the vehicle, in this case, a rental car company. The rental car company has apparently engaged a company, Violation Management Services, to collect their tickets for them. Here is their web site. You would have to contact them to get more information about the ticket, and discuss what happens if you dispute the ticket, if that's what you have in mind. They won't provide that service for you. Their job is simply to collect what was charged to the rental car company by the authority that issued the citation.

It's no secret where the cameras are located. The various cities and towns publish their locations. Here is the listing for Mesa, for example. At the PhotoEnforced.com web site, you can also see what the fines might be for various infractions regarding red light and speed cameras.

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