Will a red-light camera ticket go away by ignoring it?

The longer a red light ticket is ignored, the worse the penalties become.

Violators initially have 60 days to pay a red light camera ticket in the city of Sarasota, which costs $158. A ticket gets issued if a motorist drives past the white stop line after the light has turned red.

Ignoring the ticket past the 60-day window will upgrade the offense to a Uniform Traffic Citation. This means the cost will increase to $264. Ignoring that upgraded citation will result in a driver’s license suspension.

There are exceptions, however. Those ticketed can file for an exemption if it can be proven the car was driven by someone else at the time of violation, an officer has already issued a ticket for the same violation, the driver passed the stop line to yield to emergency vehicles, or if they were following the instructions of a law enforcement officer.