FAIRWAY, Kan. -- In the past few months, nearly 8,000 drivers have blown through a red light in Kansas City, Mo., and have had to pay the price with a ticket.

The city's 20 new red-light cameras are up and running, but a KCTV5 investigation has found thousands of drivers beating the system.

While everyone KCTV5 spoke to agreed that it's best to obey the law and stop when the light turns red, the investigation uncovered a handful of ways drivers are getting out of the $113 ticket that arrives after a red-light camera snaps a picture.

Stoplight violations happen sometimes hundreds of times a day at various intersections. When drivers do run a light, the camera flashes and the image ends up on a screen at the headquarters of the Kansas City Police Department.

Ultimately if the driver runs a red light, KCTV5 found that the person's fate is decided with the click of a mouse. An officer either clicks "accept" or "decline" and a $113 ticket is either issued or not.

KCTV5 discovered that if it's close, the officers making the decision were more likely to give the driver the benefit of the doubt.

Of the more than 18,000 red-light runners caught in the system, only about 8,000 got a ticket. That means 57 percent of the time -- for a variety of reasons -- drivers are blowing through red lights without consequence.

The KCTV5 investigation found that a few inches can separate a driver who gets a ticket with one who doesn't.

If the light turns red and the driver's front tires are behind the 24-inch line marked near the crosswalk in the intersection, he or she will more than likely get a ticket. But if the tires are in front of the line -- even by an inch -- no ticket will be issued.

The investigation also found that lightning can have an impact on the cameras. Police said lightning flashes have saved a few drivers. They said that if the camera snaps during a lighting flash, the result can be a distorted plate number. And if the officer can't read the plate number, no ticket is given.

Another more typical scenario was brought up by Sgt. Kevin Murray. Often times the physical description does not match the image that is provided along with the case.

"The vehicle provided says it's a pickup," he said, looking at one example. "This vehicle is clearly not a pickup."

One company claims to make your violation a little less clear. The makers of PhotoBlocker Spray said that a driver can spray away a red-light infraction by blurring the person's tag number when the camera light flashes.

KCTV5 asked a professional photographer to test the product. He sprayed the product on a tag and then photographed the plate. The result was still readable, even when the flash unit was set off close to the car.

KCTV5 asked the police chief in Sugar Creek, Mo., who has two-red light cameras in his town, to test the spray on his squad car. An officer then ran a red light to see what would happen. The images were then sent to the out-of-state vendor that runs the system.

The chief said he doesn't think the spray works. He suggested that drivers save their money on the can and a possible ticket.

KCTV5 found one way to avoid a red-light camera ticket. A car that goes more than 170 mph could, in theory, beat the flash. But police add that the speeding ticket would be much more than $113.

"The best thing to do is just to stop," said Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department. "Not only is it safer, but it will save you a lot of money."

The cameras might be working a little too well. Police told KCTV5 that they have a backlog of more than 1,600 cars in the system. A police officer has to look at each and every image to determine if a ticket should be issued.

Because there are so many violators, police might have to add staff to sort through them all. Even then, the backlog won't get drivers out of a fine. Police have one year to send the ticket after the cameras have flashed.