Red Light Cameras in Massachusetts: Why the State Doesn’t Use Them

Massachusetts is one of a shrinking group of states with no automated traffic enforcement of any kind. Red light violations here follow the same path as most moving violations: an officer observes the violation and hands over a paper citation. This is one of the procedures covered in how to fight a traffic ticket in Massachusetts, the reference that walks through hearings, fees, and appeals across citation types.

Massachusetts does not use red light cameras

No red light camera or speed camera operates on any public road in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth has certified this to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which under the federal FAST Act requires every state that runs automated traffic enforcement to survey those systems each cycle. Massachusetts appears on the federal list of states that have certified that automated traffic enforcement systems are not used on any public roads, alongside states such as New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.

That certification covers the whole state. There is no local option, no pilot program, and no municipal authority to install cameras at intersections. A town cannot mail a ticket based on a photograph of a car running a red signal, because state law gives it no way to do so.

Why automated enforcement is not allowed

The barrier is built into the statute that governs how motor vehicle citations are issued. Under M.G.L. c. 90C, § 2, an officer must hand a copy of the citation to the violator at the time and place of the violation. The statute states that a failure to give a copy of the citation to the violator at the time and place of the violation is a defense in any court proceeding for that violation, with narrow exceptions for cases where the driver could not be stopped.

A camera cannot satisfy that requirement. It photographs a license plate days before any notice reaches the registered owner, and it identifies a vehicle rather than the person driving it. Massachusetts law ties a civil motor vehicle infraction to the individual cited in person, not to whoever owns the car. Authorizing camera enforcement would require the Legislature to rewrite that in-person rule and create owner liability, which it has not done.

How Massachusetts enforces red light violations

Running a red light is still illegal. Drivers must obey traffic signals and signs at intersections under M.G.L. c. 89, § 9, and a violation is treated as a civil motor vehicle infraction rather than a crime. Enforcement depends on a police officer witnessing the violation and issuing a Massachusetts Uniform Citation on the spot.

Once issued, the citation moves into the same civil process as any other moving violation. The recipient has 20 days to either pay the fine or request a hearing to contest it. A red light infraction is a moving violation, like a Massachusetts speeding ticket, so a finding of responsibility can add a surchargeable event to the driver’s record under the state Safe Driver Insurance Plan.

Bills to authorize traffic cameras

The Legislature has considered automated enforcement several times without passing it. In the 2025–2026 session, Senate Bill S.2344, “An Act relative to traffic regulation using road safety cameras”, proposed a local option that would let a city or town use camera systems to enforce certain violations, including red light running. Similar bills have been filed in earlier sessions and have not become law.

Proposals of this kind generally shift liability from the driver to the registered owner of the vehicle, cap the fine, require a municipality’s legislative body to approve each camera location, and add privacy limits such as barring photographs of a vehicle’s occupants. Until a bill of this type is enacted and signed, none of it is in force, and the in-person citation rule remains the law.

What a red light camera notice naming Massachusetts means

Because Massachusetts issues no camera tickets, a notice claiming to be a Massachusetts red light camera citation falls into one of two categories.

The first is a citation from another state. Many states, including nearby New York and Rhode Island, run active red light camera programs, and a Massachusetts-registered vehicle photographed in one of those states can receive a notice by mail. That citation comes from the other state’s program under that state’s law, not from Massachusetts. How it is collected, and whether it can affect a Massachusetts license, depends on the issuing state’s rules and any reciprocity between the two states.

The second is a scam. Fraudulent “unpaid toll” and “traffic violation” texts and emails that demand immediate online payment have circulated widely. Since no Massachusetts agency sends camera-based red light tickets, an unsolicited message presenting itself as one, especially one that links to an unfamiliar payment site, warrants caution.

Contesting an in-person red light citation

A driver who receives an officer-issued red light citation and wants to dispute it uses the standard civil motor vehicle infraction appeal. The process and its fees are set by M.G.L. c. 90C, § 3.

1. Respond within 20 days

   The citation must be paid or contested within 20 days. Requesting a hearing after that window is generally not allowed, and ignoring the citation leads to default, added late and release fees, and eventually a Massachusetts license suspension.

2. Request a magistrate hearing and pay the filing fee

   A written request for a noncriminal hearing, mailed with a $25 court filing fee to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, moves the citation to a clerk-magistrate. The court, not the RMV, schedules the hearing and mails the date.

3. Present the case to the clerk-magistrate

   At the hearing, the officer and the driver each describe what happened. The clerk-magistrate decides whether the driver is responsible for the infraction based on a preponderance of the evidence.

4. Appeal to a judge if needed

   A driver found responsible can appeal the magistrate’s decision to a district court judge. The appeal requires a nonrefundable $50 fee paid to the clerk-magistrate’s office, and there is no right to a jury trial for a civil motor vehicle infraction.