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As many as 60 Albuquerque speeders and red-light runners got a pleasant surprise when a crash in cyberspace caused their citations to be dismissed, saving each of them a possible fine of $100 or more.

"I guess this is my lucky day," said a woman identified as Michelle, who showed up Friday to deal with her speeding citation only to be told that it was dismissed because of a technological meltdown.

Eight other motorists who showed up for the morning session of hearings at the City-County Building also got their citations kicked out.

Most of the rest of the 51 cases remaining on Friday's docket were also dismissed, said Lacresia Rivera, who works with the city's Safe Traffic Operations Program, which handles traffic violators caught on camera.

Only those motorists who had already requested a continuance because of illness or other circumstances still have their civil citations to deal with, she said.

City Administrative Hearing Officer Patrick Bingham said the computer glitch stemmed from a downed server operated by Redflex Traffic Systems, the technology provider based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that operates the cameras that photograph speeders and red-light runners.

Without the server up and running, the streaming video and photos that captured the traffic violation could not be accessed.

And without this crucial bit of evidence, the hearings could not proceed, Bingham said.

"Maybe it's the weather causing this," he speculated.

Redflex officials said the impending snowstorm had nothing to do with the system shutdown Friday morning but differed on what had gone wrong.

"There was a problem with the local data center there and the disk storage system," Redflex spokesman Jay Heiler said. "We took the system down for an unplanned repair. It was necessary to maintain data integrity."

But Redflex program director Layne Slapper said the problem involved a "hardware outage."

Both men said the problem was fixed and the system back online by as early as 12:30 p.m. Friday.

But Rivera said that as of 3:30 p.m. - which would have been the conclusion of Friday's session - the system was still down.

"I don't know what they're talking about," she said.

Most of the motorists who no longer faced traffic fines likely didn't either - and didn't care, she said.

"They were pretty happy," she said.

Citations must be handled within 90 days of the date the citation is mailed to the motorist, so rescheduling most of the hearings would have exceeded that limit, Bingham said.

The city ordinance, however, indicates that a hearing does not have to be heard within that time limit if a continuance is granted.

But Assistant City Attorney Mike Garcia said the ordinance also specifies that a continuance can only be granted if all parties involved agree.

"The person who has the ticket and who owes potentially a $100 fine or more would have to agree, and the chances are slim for that," he said.

Red-light fines start at $100 and increase with subsequent violations. Speeding fines also start at $100 and rise to as much as $400 for a lead-footer exceeding the speed limit by 35 mph or more.

Since the traffic enforcement cameras were introduced in Albuquerque in 2004, at least 50,000 civil citations have been issued and $5.3 million in revenue hauled in, Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said.

Today, stationary cameras are positioned at 12 intersections across Albuquerque, including the most recent one at Coors Boulevard and Central Avenue.

The city's goal is to have cameras installed at 20 intersections, with much of the citation revenue going toward paying for the equipment, Walsh said.

The cameras are triggered when motorists speed through an intersection or enter it after the light has turned red.

In addition, the city operates three vans equipped with traffic cameras to catch speeders. The vans are moved to various spots around the city, often at the request of neighborhoods experiencing problems with fast drivers.

Friday's folly, Heiler said, is no different from the days before computers and cameras.

"It's just like the world we used to know when cases were dismissed when an officer couldn't make it to court for an emergency," Heiler said. "It's funny how nothing changes even with technology."

This is the first time a computer problem has forced the dismissal of the day's docket, Bingham said.

"We've had times when the computer shuts off but it usually comes right back up again," he said.

Though the folks who showed up Friday walked away without paying a fine, Bingham warned each one that they would likely not be so lucky next time.

"The cameras are out there," he reminded one woman. "You'd better watch yourself."