How many days does it usually take to receive a notification after running a red light?
2 Answers
After running a red light, the violation notification SMS is usually received within 3 to 7 days, and at the latest within about 13 days. However, some cities now offer "instant electronic police capture alerts," where you can receive an SMS notification within 5-10 minutes of being captured. But this notification does not equate to a violation; it serves only as a capture alert. Whether it is indeed a violation will be confirmed within 3-7 days. If it is confirmed as a violation, you will receive another SMS notification. For violations captured by surveillance cameras, vehicle owners generally do not receive the violation SMS immediately; there is a delay, and the duration varies. After the electronic camera captures the violation, the relevant violation information needs to be transmitted through a dedicated channel to the traffic police management center, where it is compiled and then forwarded to the relevant traffic police staff for verification. If confirmed as a violation, the system will automatically query the corresponding vehicle owner's phone number based on the license plate information and then send the violation details via SMS to the owner. After receiving the violation SMS, the vehicle owner must go to the traffic police department at the location of the violation to handle the matter within one month before the annual vehicle inspection. Generally, if a vehicle owner suspects they have committed a violation, they can use 15 days as a benchmark. If no violation SMS is received beyond 15 days, it is likely that no violation was recorded. Methods for traffic violation queries: Traffic violation queries refer to checking motor vehicle violations of traffic management through online or terminal methods. There are five ways to query traffic violations: traffic branch terminal queries, traffic violation website queries, phone queries, SMS queries, and mobile app queries. Website query: You can search for "vehicle violation query" and enter your vehicle information to check. Phone query: To check violations, you can call the local 114 (area code + 114) or 12580 for traffic violation confirmation. Violations can only be processed at the location of the violation or the vehicle's license plate issuance location. For on-the-spot violations, such as those directly caught by traffic police, they must be handled at the violation location. SMS query: Open your phone's SMS interface; enter "WZ" followed by your license plate number and color in the message body; input 1062650001 as the recipient and click send. Mobile app query: Open the Traffic Management 12123 app, select "violation query," and clear any unprocessed violations.
Having driven for many years, I find the wait after being caught running a red light by a camera quite agonizing. Typically, you'll receive a text notification within seven to ten days, but if it coincides with a holiday when processing is slower, it might drag on to fourteen or fifteen days. The reason is that the captured images first need to be uploaded to the system, and then the police manually review them to confirm whether you actually ran the red light, to avoid wrongful penalties. I remember last time I accidentally ran a yellow light that turned red, and it took nine days for the text to arrive. I quickly paid the fine to avoid late fees. I recommend downloading the Traffic Management 12123 APP and linking your license plate to check anytime. Big cities process faster, while smaller towns are slower—don’t just wait around to avoid last-minute panic when going out. Driving requires following the rules; stopping at red lights not only avoids fines but is also safer.
