Your thoughts on camera's to stop red light runners.

[Chainsaw13]

I'm sure it's the same all over the country, but here in Michigan people have gotten progressively worse on running red lights. Some communities have talked about installing cameras to photograph the license plates of people caught running the lights. I personally believe it's a good idea, but so far, it doesn't look like it's going to happen. What do you all think? I'm really interested to hear what the cops on this forum think. Will it help your job out any? Do you think it's a good idea?

Bob

 

[hillie16]

If they do they will have to outlaw those plastic license plate covers..the camera won't pick up a good pic of the plate through some of them.

I think it would be a good idea...anything to help us out, plus how can somone say it wasn't them when they are on camera?

 

[DCMustang00]

Here is a good question. How can you ticket somebody when you don't know who is driving?

 

[4D THNDR]

Originally posted by DCMustang00
Here is a good question. How can you ticket somebody when you don't know who is driving?

The vehicle is guilty of the crime until proven innocent. Thank you Ronny Raygun.

 

[Dragnut]

cameras

The cameras seem like a good idea since the problem is so rampant, BUT, I have already read in Maryland they have made so much money off them that they are now shortening the time the yellow is on so they can ticket more vehicles- GOOD OLD GREED :fm:

:bored: I also read where a rental car company put a GPS in their cars to track speed and impose their own fine of $150 for speeding in their rental. A guy found out when he was charged $450 on his credit card. They told him he was speeding 3 times.
If they are doing this you can bet the local politicos will require it in every car within 15 minutes of finding out about it:scream: :scream: :scream:

 

[Chainsaw13]

Dragnut - If they are doing this in Maryland, then that is wrong. That isn't the intent of using the cameras. I could see were this could lead to legal battles, and rightly so.

I also too read about the gps unit in the rental car. Courts ruled that the rental agency couldn't issue the tickets. They could only use the gps to track where the car is/was.

1998WS6FBTA - That's funny to hear that people are getting pissed off about getting caught something they know they shouldn't be doing in the first place. I'll admit that I'm not perfect when it comes to driving, but I won't complain if I get caught. I may bi#ch, but I know it was my own doing.

I'm sure it won't be a perfect system. What about those times you're waiting to make a left turn and you end up going through on red waiting for traffic to clear? Clearly not your fault, but you may still get popped. You may end up having to fight that one.

I guess it's like a lot of issues today (take your pick). The majority has to pay for the mistakes of the few.

Bob

 

[99RioRed]

I live in Maryland, and we have red light cameras everywhere! I think it is a good idea for preventing accidents, but not for giving more $ to the government! The law here is that you have a $75 fine. You do not receive any points, and your insurance is not raised. You receive 2 pictures in the mail, and the fine. The pictures show where the car was (over the line) when the light was red. I think you can go to court, but I think the state always wins!

 

[Albert]

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THOSE STINKING CAMERA'S!
They are nothing but revenue collecters!
For the greedy city officials!
Do they take a pic of the driver? NO!
Do they take a pic of the red light that is stuck and won't change and you've been sitting there for 5 minutes? NO! (So you run it) and GUESS WHAT! You get a ticket in the mail!
If the officers wrote tickets for violaters people would think twice or 3 or 4 times before doing something stupid! How about citeing people for NO signal lights when changing lanes or making a turn?
How about citeing them for impedeing traffic? Pulling in front of others on a 50 or 60 MPH speed limit and driving 15 or 20 MPH
I ask several officers here in OK. about why they went after speeders so quickly...Their answer...They're easy to catch! HMMM
Most COPS in OK. DON'T USE SIGNAL LIGHTS!...So why should they expect others to?

Albert

 

[LogiWorld123]

hey albert...

you wouldnt happen to be in the SVTOA ok chapter?

if so this is matt, with the black 98 Contour

i was at the stillwater meeting...

just wondering!

 

[Ebbsnflows]

I think the camera's are another instance of trying to make a "black and white" decision on a gray issue. There are TONS of instances when crossing the line during a Redlight should be acceptable....but the camera (nor the judge) see's it that way.

Inclimate weather: The roads are icy....light goes yellow, you begin to slow down....light turns red...you try to stop, but you slide into the intersection....<FLASH>...now you're getting a ticket.

Or...terrified of getting a ticket you slow down too quickly when you could've made it thru the yellow light (normally).....the guy on your @$$ during rush hour (DC area people know what I'm talking about), doesn't have brakes that work as well as yours....BOOM! Rearended, plus he shoved you into the intersection....Now you've got a Fuked up rearend AND a TICKET.

Emergency vehicle coming thru...you're midway across the intersection when you see him....You immediately stop and move to the side....while waiting (you misjudged the Emer. vehicles speed), the light turns red. <FLASH> The camera caught you on film but the Ambulance wasn't in the frame yet....Now you're getting a ticket for doing what you were supposed to.

Sure, some of these may seem a little farfetched...but think about it....there are MILLIONS of cars on the road EVERYDAY...it's only a matter of time before something that seems farfetched actually happens.

 

[Chainsaw13]

Paul, you bring up some good instances where you might get a ticket when one wasn't deserved. I"m sure there'll be a lot more. That's why I think that there should be multiple pics taken, spaced a sec or so apart. Those pics should also be public domain, so that if you need to fight it you can and win.

It's not ever going to be a perfect system. It can't. There's too many variables. But something needs to be done. The good that it can cause far outweighs the inconvenience it may cause. How's the old saying go, "You sometimes have to take the good with the bad."

Good example at lunch today. We're driving back in my friends van. We're approaching a intersection and the light turns yellow. My friend starts to brake for it but has to stop past the line because the guy following us didn't want to stop and was close to rearending us. Finally the guy behind us shoots over a lane in front of the other stopped cars and runs through the red light.

 

[hillie16]

Originally posted by Ebbsnflows


Inclimate weather: The roads are icy....light goes yellow, you begin to slow down....light turns red...you try to stop, but you slide into the intersection....<FLASH>...now you're getting a ticket.

Then you have a newspaper article, and accidents that happened that day or several other things to show that the weather was inclimate. Plead not guilty take them to court,

Originally posted by Ebbsnflows

Or...terrified of getting a ticket you slow down too quickly when you could've made it thru the yellow light (normally).....the guy on your @$$ during rush hour (DC area people know what I'm talking about), doesn't have brakes that work as well as yours....BOOM! Rearended, plus he shoved you into the intersection....Now you've got a Fuked up rearend AND a TICKET.

And an accident report to show you were pushed through the intersection and were not possibly able to stop your vehicle from doing so do to the negligence of another driver.

Originally posted by Ebbsnflows

Emergency vehicle coming thru...you're midway across the intersection when you see him....You immediately stop and move to the side....while waiting (you misjudged the Emer. vehicles speed), the light turns red. <FLASH> The camera caught you on film but the Ambulance wasn't in the frame yet....Now you're getting a ticket for doing what you were supposed to.

And you can get the name ambulance drivers on duty that day who can get a copy of a report of the call they were answering...or the light is still red and it takes their pic too....

 

[CraneClan]

Originally posted by Chainsaw13

I'm sure it won't be a perfect system. What about those times you're waiting to make a left turn and you end up going through on red waiting for traffic to clear? Clearly not your fault, but you may still get popped. You may end up having to fight that one.
Bob

Shouldn't be a problem. If you are on camera going through the red, then you are on camera sitting in the middle of the intersection. The law states that you must go in this case when traffic clears, i.e. on the red.

 

[Wildpony]

Re: cameras

Originally posted by Dragnut
The cameras seem like a good idea since the problem is so rampant, BUT, I have already read in Maryland they have made so much money off them that they are now shortening the time the yellow is on so they can ticket more vehicles- GOOD OLD GREED :fm:

That's a bunch of crap. In Toledo they have the cameras which I think are good, but at a few of these intersections the city has the left turn green light set to let like 3 people make it through (if they are all driving Cobras & can pull a sub 2 sec -60ft all at the same time)These intersections are some of the busiest & most accident prone in the state and it can take like 5plus minutes to get to turn when only being a few cars back. My point being if these 'tards that control the timing would get their heads out of their ass and do some work in time studies there wouldn't be all the trouble /accidents as drivers get pissed and try to beat/run the light. There should be a set of universal times vs. amount of traffic flow with set yellow light times. Of course this would make too much sense

 

[LIGHTNINROD]

NO!

You guys in favor of these 'cameras' need to read the novel "1984" and then read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". This is more government control over our lives and freedom. It IS a revenue 'theft'.

BTW, there are cameras and radar(x-band) guns mounted on concrete poles along I-75 in middle Ga. Still haven't read what these are for. Doesn't take much imagination to figure out their intent.

Hey, freedom isn't necessarily 'nice', 'easy', 'risk-free', or 'perfect'. "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"

Dan

 

[hillie16]

Re: NO!

Originally posted by LIGHTNINROD


BTW, there are cameras and radar(x-band) guns mounted on concrete poles along I-75 in middle Ga. Still haven't read what these are for. Doesn't take much imagination to figure out their intent.


Dan

We have them here on Rt 60 , I-76, and I-79. They have been there for 5 years and no tickets have ever been written from them. They use them to measure traffic patterns, for scheduling contruction times, when a bad accident occurs to see what happens, and lots of other studies and stuff.

 

[LIGHTNINROD]

Radar guns....

Hillie: you may be correct? The 'guns' here are x-band(according to my 8500) Still don't like them---they can be missused too easily.

Dan

 

[4D THNDR]

More often than not the worst intersections for red light runners are because they were poorly engineered by the traffic engineers. Yellows are too short of a duration changing to yellow and then red before people entering on green can clear the intersection. Insufficient green light time to clear the waiting traffic forcing some to sit through 2 and even 3 light cycles. Think about it, if all traffic lights were set up the same then all intersections should have equal amounts of red light runners per amount of traffic. We all know this is bullcrap. There are specific ones that are poorly engineered that cause most of the problems. The worst one in the city of Chesapeake, VA used to be near me. It was 2 streets that were 45MPH each crossing each other. One wasn't much of a problem but going the other way was. The yellow light lasted 3 and 1/3 seconds and the road you crossed measured 10 lanes wide. At 45MPH when the light turns yellow and you are at that point where if you locked them you would get stopped by the middle of the intersection, if you continued at your current 45MPH you become a dreaded redlight runner. Screwed either way. Then Lowes and Home Depot plop a couple of their stores at the intersection adding more traffic volume to this same intersection. So much that at rush hour sitting through 4 and 5 light cycles is not uncommon. Another incentive to get through that light, red or not. But never fear, the useless ass bottom feeders get wind and begin circling their red and blue lights to collect more taxes. It doesn't make the intersection any safer but hey, we're making money off of it. After a few years of this crap someone must have found a way to beat it in court or someone pitched enough of a bitch that they actually re-engineered it so the yellow lasts long enough and the red is delayed and the green stays long enough to clear traffic both ways and the vultures no longer circle overhead waiting for some "no strain to their donut eating ass" pickings. And it is no longer the most dangerous intersection in Chesapeake VA.

 

[LIGHTNINROD]

Hey guys:

Just saw on Fox News---a California judge thru out all tickets issued because or by the red light cameras! Yes!

Dan

 

[LIGHTNINROD]

ruling update(paraphrased, as best as I can)

A SUPERIOR(not a Traffic Court) Court judge ruled against the city and it's 'camera/red lite' tickets in Ca. System is inherently unfair. The city abrogated it's responsibility to a 'private contractor(the mfg'r of the cameras). The tickets were $275--$70 went to the contractor--$205 to the city coffers. THE CAMERAS 'MADE' $18,000,000 in 18 months(not sure of the time period).

Oh yeah, no revenue considerations here--justa whol lota gougin' an thievery goin' on heah!

Dan

ps: (I tried to get my 'facts' straight--don't blame Fox if I misstated anything--I was scribbling as fast as I could.)