Speed camera caught me with out-of-state plates

So, I just got caught by a speed camera in San Francisco—right by the Walmart on Split Street. Honestly, I have no clue how fast I was actually going, but man, those fines are getting ridiculous no matter how you look at it.
The thing is, I’m a citizen of Canada, I’ve got my license from there, and my car has Canadian plates. So, I'm wondering:
1) When am I actually going to get the ticket?
2) Where is it going to be sent?
3) What's the absolute worst-case scenario for the fine?

Brian Long25 said:So, I just got caught by a speed camera in San Francisco—right by the Walmart on Split Street. Honestly, I have no clue how fast I was actually going, but man, those fines are getting ridiculous no matter how you look at it.
The thing is, I’m a citizen of Canada, I’ve got my license from there, and my car has Canadian plates. So, I'm wondering:
1) When am I actually going to get the ticket?
2) Where is it going to be sent?
3) What's the absolute worst-case scenario for the fine?

My condolences 😁
Just kidding, mostly

Man, tell me about it. But honestly, right now my head is just stuck on the stuff I mentioned above

If you see doctors who have been convicted of causing patient deaths somehow managing to wiggle their way out of trouble, then I suppose you’ll just find some way to slip through the cracks too. 😁

The real issue is that criminals and killers are always going to find a way to slip through the cracks—while us regular folks end up footing the bill for ourselves and everyone else...

Look, if Canada actually has some kind of formal agreement in place with Rhode Island regarding this stuff, then they'll show up, but if there isn't one? Then it’s just ancient history and completely forgotten.

So, where would the fine even go—to my address back in Canada?
And is there any chance they won't show up at my door, or am I just gonna get grilled by the cops at the border instead?

I mean, there’s no way this is happening in Los Angeles. It’s possible, I guess, but only if they’re coordinating heavily with Border Patrol on some massive scale, which just seems super unlikely to me.
They wouldn't even bother messing with you just for fun; they'd just go straight for your wallet or maybe even try to yank your driver's license.

And what happens if, say, I decide to swap out my license plates during the next registration period?

I mean, unless they’ve got you and the car under some high-tech scanner or something, there's just no way for them to actually know it was you behind the wheel.

So, here’s the deal with my situation:

A cousin of mine—who happens to be a highway patrol officer—told me they can't just mail a ticket to your house. He said unless they catch you right at the border, they can either hand it to you on the spot or force you to pay then and there.

Then I asked a buddy who works over at a precinct in Miami, and he was like, "Look, they can't do anything to you at the border. Unless a trooper pulls you over while you're actually on US soil, you've got to pay... otherwise, you're looking at jail time. Take your pick."

Another guy from a local precinct told me to just call 911 and ask for traffic enforcement—they'd give me the straight answer.

But then someone from a traffic unit told me that if we have an address in Canada, the fine will definitely find its way there and we'll have to settle up.

To top it all off, a friend of mine in Border Patrol says that since everything is marked with foreign plates, no fine is ever going to reach us—not at the border and not at our home address.

Honestly, this is driving me crazy—everyone is giving me different stories.

So, if this whole deal between the US and Canada actually goes through regarding sharing vehicle and driver info, then yeah, the cops are totally going to start pulling up with all that data whenever they feel like it.

So, this guy—who’s actually second on my list—is telling me that there isn't any contract of that nature signed by anyone at all.

So then there's no citation and no fine either. It’s like, why even bother? Especially since that other guy doesn't have the slightest clue how highway patrol actually operates.

That’s exactly my point—so far, I’ve talked to seven different people tied to law enforcement, including five actual officers—some handling traffic and others working the border—and not a single one of them gave me the same story as the last guy. It’s wild. You get everything from "don't sweat the fine, it's not happening," to some guy telling me, "Look, the paperwork takes five or six months, then your car gets flagged in the Border Patrol system, and you won't be able to cross back into the States until you settle up," or even just, "Don't worry, the ticket will show up at your house in a few months." And then there's the blunt version: "You're screwed the next time you hit the border crossing."

Look, if there isn't some kind of formal agreement in place regarding how data gets handed over, then you can't just slap a fine on anyone—it’s that simple. Period.

At the end of the day, the ticket goes to the person actually behind the wheel, not just whoever happens to own the car.