Chapel Hill, NC Mobility & Curb Rules: Red-Light Cameras (2026)
Key Facts
- Civil penalty
- $50 per red-light violation
- Late penalty
- Additional $50 if unpaid past 30 days
- Liability
- Registered vehicle owner, with limited exceptions
- Points assessed
- None; non-criminal, no license points
- Appeal window
- 30 calendar days, bond required
- Speed cameras
- No school-zone speed camera provision in code
Summary
Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances authorizes automated red light cameras at designated intersections under Article IIA, Sec. 21-10.1 through 21-10.5. Crossing the stop line on a steady red light at a system location draws a fifty-dollar civil penalty billed to the registered owner, with an added fifty-dollar penalty for missing the thirty-day payment or appeal deadline. The code contains no automated school-zone speed camera provision.
(a)It shall be unlawful for a vehicle to cross the stop line at a system location when the traffic signal for that vehicle's direction of travel is emitting a steady red light. ... Any violation of section 21-10.3 shall be deemed a non-criminal violation for which a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be assessed, and for which no moving violation points as authorized by NCGS 20-16(c) or insurance points as authorized by NCGS 58-36-65. shall be assigned to the owner or driver of the vehicle. Failure to pay the civil penalty or to file an appeal within thirty (30) calendar days after the mailing date of the notification of the violation shall result in an additional penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00). The town may establish procedures for the collection of the civil penalties and may enforce the penalties by a civil action in the nature of a debt.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 21-10.1 defines a system location as the intersection approach a photographic, video, or electronic camera monitors, and makes the vehicle's registered owner responsible for a violation under Sec. 21-10.3, which makes it unlawful for a vehicle to cross the stop line at a system location while the signal for its direction shows a steady red light. Sec. 21-10.2 requires the town to maintain a list of system locations and treats a red-light citation issued by a Chapel Hill police officer the same way as an automated citation, mailed or personally served to the address on the vehicle's registration and stating how to appeal.
Owner liability under Sec. 21-10.3 has two carve-outs: within thirty calendar days of notification, the owner can name the person or entity who had care, custody, or control of the vehicle at the time, or submit an affidavit that the vehicle was stolen or being used without permission. Sec. 21-10.4 sets the civil penalty at fifty dollars, treats the violation as non-criminal so no moving-violation or insurance points attach under N.C.G.S. 20-16(c) or 58-36-65, and adds a second fifty-dollar penalty if the owner neither pays nor appeals within thirty calendar days.
Sec. 21-10.5 lets an owner appeal within that same thirty-day window through an administrative hearing process the town manager establishes, but requires posting a bond equal to the penalty first, with the hearing officer's decision reviewable by the Orange County General Court of Justice through a petition in the nature of certiorari. Chapel Hill's code has no comparable section authorizing automated school-zone speed cameras.
Violations & Fines
Running a steady red light at a designated system location draws a fifty-dollar civil penalty billed to the vehicle's registered owner, not treated as a criminal or moving offense, so it adds no license points. Missing the thirty-day deadline to pay or file an appeal adds a second fifty-dollar penalty, and the town may pursue unpaid penalties as a civil debt action rather than through the criminal courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Chapel Hill also use automated school-zone speed cameras?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chapel Hill
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