It Starts as a Civil Penalty, Not a Ticket
Florida's red light camera program, created under the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Program (Fla. Stat. § 316.0083), doesn't work the way an officer-issued ticket does. When a camera catches a vehicle entering an intersection after the light turns red, the registered owner first receives a Notice of Violation in the mail — a civil penalty, not a criminal or moving traffic violation. It carries no points, isn't reported to your insurance company, and doesn't show up on your driving record. The fine is a flat $158, split between the state and the local government that installed the camera.
The Right-Turn Exception
One of the most commonly misunderstood parts of the law is the right-turn carve-out. Florida law prohibits a citation if a driver made a right turn on red in a careful and prudent manner at an intersection where right turns are permitted. It also protects drivers in a narrower, less obvious scenario: if you came to a complete stop after crossing the stop line, but before turning right — rather than stopping before the line the way you're supposed to — the statute still bars a citation. Both exceptions matter, because a share of red light camera notices are issued for exactly this kind of rolling or late stop rather than a driver blowing through a red light at speed.
Your 60-Day Window
Once a Notice of Violation is mailed, the registered owner has 60 days to do one of three things: pay the $158 penalty, submit an affidavit identifying who was actually driving at the time (which shifts the notice to that person), or request a hearing before a local hearing officer. Doing nothing is the worst option. If the 60 days pass without a response, the notice converts into an actual traffic citation, sent by certified mail, and a hearing officer who later upholds the violation can add up to $250 in costs on top of the original $158.
The Hearing Process
If you request a hearing, testimony is taken under oath from both the enforcement officer and the petitioner, and the hearing officer reviews the photographic or video evidence behind the citation. Formal rules of evidence don't apply, but due process is supposed to govern the proceeding — which is exactly the issue at the center of a case that's reshaping how these tickets are viewed statewide.
A 2026 Broward Ruling Is Testing Whether the Law Holds Up
In March 2026, a Broward County judge dismissed a red light camera citation, ruling in a 21-page order that Florida's camera statute violates due process under both the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The court found that the process functions like a quasi-criminal proceeding — given the size of the fines and the formal finding of guilt involved — while effectively shifting the burden onto the vehicle owner to disprove the violation, rather than requiring the government to prove it. It's a similar due-process theory to the one that led a different Broward hearing officer to start dismissing school zone speed camera cases earlier in 2026.
That ruling, so far, applies only in that judge's courtroom. It hasn't overturned the statute statewide, and a bill that would have repealed the camera program entirely died in a House subcommittee in March 2026 without reaching a floor vote. What it has done is give drivers and their attorneys a real due-process argument to raise, particularly in Broward County, and it's worth watching as similar challenges move through other courts. None of that means a notice can simply be ignored in the meantime — the safest move is to have it reviewed before the 60-day window closes.