Red light Cameras

[bigi]

Wouldn't have an issue if they worked right, but too many bs tickets to people turning right on red when it's legal.

+1. It fucks you up when you make a right turn on red when it is allowed.
You don't stop fully for 3 seconds, make a right and ticket is in your mail.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

It wasn't sent by certified mail. I gave gotten a few speeding tickets since and nothing ever said.

The only thing they can get me with is missing court. I have a friend that is a cop and asked him about it.

i dont think you would get a "failure to appear" unless you went to the arraignment to plead "not guilty" and then didnt show up in court. its more likely when you didnt dispute it within a period of time you forfeited your right to go to court and were by default found guilty and now you owe a couple thousand dollars

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Get one of THESE and you'll be fine.

i doubt that is legal. you cant cover up your plates in california, its actually a crime. we had a cop here in san francisco a few years ago who was trying to drag chicks into his car and rape/murder them and he tried to get away with it by putting a towel over his license plate and thats how they pulled him over and caught him

 

[PsiStar]

In many locales it is illegal to enter an intersection on a yellow light.

I travel in many different states & if possible to stop without slamming on the brakes, I will stop on a yellow. I also drive NASA HPDE & the need for speed is mostly out of my system on public roads.

 

[BUTCH1]

Never enter an intersection until you know you can make it out of the box before your light turns red.

It used to be the case that for an unprotected left on a green, you could camp in the box and wait for oncoming traffic to allow you through. The risk is when your light turns yellow: do you gun it in hopes oncoming traffic stops when they see their yellow? Or do you wait until you know you have a red and then make your hasty left to clear the box? In either case, you could get t-boned.

Really, the best course of action is to never enter unless you can exit before red. This is true regardless of cameras or yellow duration.

When you've been accustomed to a friggin yellow light lasting 4-5 seconds then it's shortened to 2-3 seconds, which is creating dangerous decisions for drivers. I have no problem for the guy getting caught who is hauling ass and could care less the light has been red for awhile and will blow through it anyway..

 

[JoeyP]

When you've been accustomed to a friggin yellow light lasting 4-5 seconds then it's shortened to 2-3 seconds, which is creating dangerous decisions for drivers. I have no problem for the guy getting caught who is hauling ass and could care less the light has been red for awhile and will blow through it anyway..

Then adapt, or get the ticket. This means changing driving habits a little. To that point, I've started allowing a little more drive time.

 

[SillyOReilly]

They are placed under the guise of public safety, when it's only yet another money grab.

 

[BUTCH1]

Then adapt, or get the ticket. This means changing driving habits a little. To that point, I've started allowing a little more drive time.

Fine, tell that to the guy in the 1996 GMC pickup five feet from my bumper who could give two shits if he hits you, bet he has great insurance too. I did find this neat idea, simple and the plate is not covered by anything so it won't attract attention from the cops, once it flips down I would put a sign behind the plate that says "eat me assholes!"..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDl6AUhcVrk

 

[JoeyP]

Fine, tell that to the guy in the 1996 GMC pickup five feet from my bumper who could give two shits if he hits you, bet he has great insurance too.

Go ahead and hit me, and within 30 minutes I'll be on the phone to the most aggressive and greedy law firm that advertises the most on TV.

 

[Juddog]

Fine, tell that to the guy in the 1996 GMC pickup five feet from my bumper who could give two shits if he hits you, bet he has great insurance too. I did find this neat idea, simple and the plate is not covered by anything so it won't attract attention from the cops, once it flips down I would put a sign behind the plate that says "eat me assholes!"..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDl6AUhcVrk

If someone is tailgating you, just gradually slow down more and more - they will get the picture and get into the other lane.

 

[Schfifty Five]

BUTCH1 - it's "couldn't care less" and "couldn't give two shits", not "could".

 

[BUTCH1]

Go ahead and hit me, and within 30 minutes I'll be on the phone to the most aggressive and greedy law firm that advertises the most on TV.

Once ANY law firm discovers my tailgating asshole has no insurance,(very common in FL) they will tell you the dude has no cash to sue for, no large sum from an insurance co. you will now have to pay them out of your own pocket to take the case which would be a wast of time/money, if your driving a beater 1996 GMC truck chances are your broke..

 

[BUTCH1]

BUTCH1 - it's "couldn't care less" and "couldn't give two shits", not "could".

Thanks, I'm a better person now...

 

[TangoJuliet]

Then adapt, or get the ticket. This means changing driving habits a little. To that point, I've started allowing a little more drive time.

I have no problem with that but at least give people a grace period where we can get used to these new procedures. How about the first incident is "on the house"??

 

[96Firebird]

Then adapt, or get the ticket. This means changing driving habits a little. To that point, I've started allowing a little more drive time.

I shouldn't have to adapt to a yellow light that is shortened to such a ridiculous length of time in order to facilitate a money grab operation.

 

[BUTCH1]

I have no problem with that but at least give people a grace period where we can get used to these new procedures. How about the first incident is "on the house"??

Some cities will allow a grace period of 30 days before the camera gets turned on, depends on where you live. Like I stated earlier, I really would not care as long as they left the timing of the yellow alone, cutting it in half is clearly an attempt to generate more revenue and does not make anything safer, the opposite in fact..

 

[Tommy2000GT]

i've seen way too many people blow thru redlights even when the green light for other traffic has been solid for a good 5 seconds. Those people make want to shoot them.

 

[BUTCH1]

i've seen way too many people blow thru redlights even when the green light for other traffic has been solid for a good 5 seconds. Those people make want to shoot them.

Agree, this type of shit get people killed or seriously injured..

 

[CRXican]

i dont think you would get a "failure to appear" unless you went to the arraignment to plead "not guilty" and then didnt show up in court. its more likely when you didnt dispute it within a period of time you forfeited your right to go to court and were by default found guilty and now you owe a couple thousand dollars

I'm guessing he's in CA. City of LA got rid of the cameras but they still exist at Metro bus line crossings here in the LA area. After some recent research it would seem that the tickets are handled by the LA Superior Court which does not report them to the DMV. Regular mail, no certified FYI.

Also, since you didn't sign anything they can't get you for failure to appear so no bench warrants unless you're a ding dong and call the court or something.

Eventually they send the next notice with more fees and then it gets sent to a collection agency which still can't collect because you never signed anything.

So long story short, if the court is consistent in not reporting to the DMV then registration should not be affected. Only thing would finally be deciding if you respond with a debt validation letter to the collection agency asking for proof that you signed for the debt/ticket.

 

[DaTT]

i doubt that is legal. you cant cover up your plates in california, its actually a crime. we had a cop here in san francisco a few years ago who was trying to drag chicks into his car and rape/murder them and he tried to get away with it by putting a towel over his license plate and thats how they pulled him over and caught him

It's only illegal is it's blacked out, I would assume, otherwise it's just a plate holder....I dunno.

 

[96Firebird]

i've seen way too many people blow thru redlights even when the green light for other traffic has been solid for a good 5 seconds. Those people make want to shoot them.

Red light cameras don't stop these people from blowing through red lights. I'm willing to bet they cause more rear-end accidents than they prevent running red light accidents.

 

[Meghan54]

Red light cameras don't stop these people from blowing through red lights. I'm willing to bet they cause more rear-end accidents than they prevent running red light accidents.

Good intro article into red light cameras with links to various studies of how RLC's work, if at all.


http://autos.aol.com/article/red-light-camera-accidents/


About the supposition that RLC's increase rear end accidents.....from the article above:

Although there are no easy answers, when it comes to argument against red light cameras, the preponderance of evidence is much clearer. While cameras are often credited for reducing broadside accidents, and sometime reducing accidents between cross traffic and those making a right turn on red, they are almost universally credited for increasing rear-end accidents. You have to rummage through a lot of paperwork to find studies, like the one from Iowa State, that claim reductions in rear-end crashes at monitored intersections.


Even the government's look into the matter found that rear-end crashes go up at intersections with the cameras: A 2005 study by the Federal Highway Administration found an average increase of 15 percent in rear-end crashes after looking at 132 locations in seven areas. In the journal of the Institute of Transport Engineers, the group that studies and develops intersection standards, an article that looked at a vast number of studies trying to determine the effects of red light cameras found in almost every case that rear-end crashes increase.

Not surprisingly, depending upon who financed the study seems to have biased the results of said study.

Of course, don't forget that with red light cameras, most if not all municipalities "rent" the cameras from a RLC building company, mostly Redflex and ATS, the two largest RLC companies, then split the "take" the camera generates with the municipality that installed the camera. So, there is a vested interest by those companies to ensure RLC's are portrayed as positive.

Interestingly, at the end of the above linked article is this paragraph:

For a final, cynical look at whether red light cameras are truly run for safety or money, take High Point, NC. When the city was court-ordered to pay 90 percent of its citation revenue from red light cameras to the local school system, what did it do? It shut the system down and found a way to break its contract with the operator.

Guess safety doesn't count for much unless there's revenue being generated into the city's coffers.

 

[momeNt]

Traffic cameras in the suburbs around chicago - can't speak to the city itself because I avoid driving in it - look specifically for right turns you can run a red and be just fine. It looks for one of the most safe but commonly performed traffic maneuvers. All for revenue and nothing for safety.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Another thing too....I wouldn't be such against RLCs if the lights themselves were efficient. I used to leave for work at 430am and there would be nobody on the road. However, for whatever reason - someone triggering the system to make a right on red, timing, etc I had to stop at an intersection with zero cars around.

Theres an intersection I know of where people block the intersection to make a left because they are waiting for the opposite direction traffic to clear. By waiting for that traffic to clear they block the cars that are stopped at the light to make a left. The result is only 2-3 cars can make that left. During rush hour that turning lane is 20-30 cars deep and I avoid it at all costs.

My dad was nailed with a red light ticket last winter. He stopped way prior to the intersection but there was ice and snow on the road that made him slide past the line. It was really early in the morning (4am) and not a car was on the road. You clearly saw this in the video they give you so he contested it - went to court and the judge denied it telling him to "be more careful next time".

 

[JoeyP]

My dad was nailed with a red light ticket last winter. He stopped way prior to the intersection but there was ice and snow on the road that made him slide past the line. It was really early in the morning (4am) and not a car was on the road. You clearly saw this in the video they give you so he contested it - went to court and the judge denied it telling him to "be more careful next time".

Going too fast for the conditions. He should get better snow tires before winter.