Cameras at red lights.

O

OH HSKR FAN

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Just got a fine in the mail today. I would of rather had a cop at that intersection than rely on a camera's judgement.

 
A lot of city's on the left coast are getting rid of the cameras. The initial cost and then yearly costs eclipse the fines received by the system. A nurse I worked with came in all atwitter that she saw the light flash at her. She proceeded to tell us what happened. I looked on the ticket she got in the mail a few days later and we looked on the web site. Whoa, she be guilty :D ran a red w/right turn without stopping. She said she did but there weren't even any brake lights illuminated so NOPE.

 
Meh. In general I'd be more inclined to trust a photo/video than an eyewitness.

You've accepted the risk of prosecution if you choose to run red/yellow lights.

In general, I think that the cameras accomplish the goal of reducing stop light violations. I bet that you'll remember to stop at that light the next time, right?

 
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I got one of these, they even had a video of my car running the red light they sent to me. I don't have a problem with the fine, I technically broke the law and can understand being fined for that. What I did have a problem with though was the fact the local law enforcement contracts out a third party in AZ and they are very hard to deal with. Both the local law enforcement and the contracted company were contacting me and were not on the same page at all.

 
I got it. I got it. I did get a ticket in the mail. in 2000 from a company in Vail or some other little town in the mountains in Colorado. I had rented a car in the town because my power steering pump blew out going up the damn mountains(bastages). This was while I was moving my father out to Kali with me. When they called and said my car was done I drove the rental back there and picked up my maxima and proceeded home joyfully. About a month or two later I get a ticket in the mail. It said I run a red light in that town with the rental vehicle about 3 weeks after I had returned it. I went to the local Enterprise office and explained and they handled it well for me. Plus it was a lady driving the car :D . I ain't no lady.

 
rawhide said:
I got it. I got it. I did get a ticket in the mail. in 2000 from a company in Vail or some other little town in the mountains in Colorado. I had rented a car in the town because my power steering pump blew out going up the damn mountains(bastages). This was while I was moving my father out to Kali with me. When they called and said my car was done I drove the rental back there and picked up my maxima and proceeded home joyfully. About a month or two later I get a ticket in the mail. It said I run a red light in that town with the rental vehicle about 3 weeks after I had returned it. I went to the local Enterprise office and explained and they handled it well for me. Plus it was a lady driving the car :D . I ain't no lady.
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+1 for using the word Bastages! Haven't heard anyone use that in years. :D
 
I don't disagree with the idea behind red light cameras, but people just do not drive legally in the first place, and the police force and society are generally okay with it but the lights are not. I tend to always attempt to make sure I'm driving legally, so I don't think it would be an issue for me (although I've heard these things can be overly strict, which in turn has led to a lot of people slamming on their breaks and getting rear-ended).

Here's a few examples of ways that motorists don't follow the law that cops don't generally care about, at least not around Nebraska.

- Turning right onto a two-lane street when a car is in the other lane. Legally, there can't be any cars coming.

- Switching lanes in the middle of intersections. Legally you need to be 100-200 feet away from an intersection I believe.

- Creeping out into the middle of an intersection while in the left-turn lane.

- To go along with above, waiting until the oncoming traffic slows at a yellow and then turning (99% of the time the light being red).

- Turning left across traffic into the median lane, waiting for traffic to clear.

 
I got a ticket from one of these once. I was driving the El Camino Real through one of the smaller towns between San Jose and San Francisco, whichever town has the amber-colored street lights. Being colorblind, I had no idea I was approaching a stop light, and I ended up just blowing right through the intersection without slowing down one iota. It was a pretty busy intersection and the wife was utterly freaked out, "What are you doing-WHATAREYOUDOING!!!!" and in the picture you can see me with this "derrrrrrPPP!" look on my face. Pretty embarrassing. :D

I ended up with a ticket and STOP class for this little incident.

 
Problem is studies have shown intersections with lots of red light runners benefit more from adding one second to the yellow, but there is no profit in that. Others have shown an increase in in accidents, mainly rear endings, although a drop in the far more dangerous T-bone accidents.

A few cities have been sued for having a certain yellow time at most lights (say 4 seconds), and taking a second or two away from the one with the camera.

In one case the length of a yellow light in El Paso was shortened by just a four-tenths of a second and citations jumped by 132%. In another case, a yellow light at a 45-mph intersection in Houston that lasted 3.6 seconds rang up 341% more tickets than the yellow lights at other, similar 45-mph intersections.
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http://autos.aol.com...lights-revenue/

I'm glad we dont have these in NE. They become a large source of revenue for the towns and cities, and once that starts to drop, they rig the game, and, as usual, we get screwed.

 
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I wouldn't have as much a problem with them if those nasty flashes didn't blind me for a few minutes while waiting for the 3-legged wiener dog to get out of the left turn lane and let me through.

 
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Black boxes are coming to our cars in the next couple of years. Just think if the municipalities wish to activate those every time you go a mile above the posted speed limit? What would stop them from doing it? Just think of the money they could rake in. Big Brother is watching.

 
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Vizsla1 said:
Black boxes are coming to our cars in the next couple of years. Just think if the municipalities wish to activate those every time you go a mile above the posted speed limit? What would stop them from doing it? Just think of the money they could rake in. Big Brother is watching.
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. . . or you could obey the speed limit?

Not sure how this gets to Big Brother levels.

 
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carlfense said:
Vizsla1 said:
Black boxes are coming to our cars in the next couple of years. Just think if the municipalities wish to activate those every time you go a mile above the posted speed limit? What would stop them from doing it? Just think of the money they could rake in. Big Brother is watching.
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. . . or you could obey the speed limit?

Not sure how this gets to Big Brother levels.
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Only old people go the speed limit. It's big brotheresque because we wouldn't know exactly what information are in those black boxes.

 
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