[Fred Mertz]

Screechhhh!!!

[KineticKitty]

I remember getting flashed by one of those 'darn' things in Germany at night, it scared the sh*t out of me AND made me about run off the road. (I was doing 'roughly' 6 kilometers over the speed limit or so)

but I have always wondered, if they can take a picture/photocopy of us and issue a citation, can we send them a photocopy of our money and call it even? lol :)

[snopercod]

Traffic tickets are just another source of income for the government. They really have nothing to do with safety.

[paul544]

I hate to be on the same side as the ACLU.

[Demidog]

Proponents of camera systems say that traffic engineers laugh when they hear accusations of shorter yellow-light times. "They're the only people who are allowed to set the yellow-light time in most places, not the police or the vendor running the camera program, and they traditionally follow national engineering standards.

Yes, and they, being employed by the cities who install the traffic light surveilance systems, would never be influenced by their bosses regarding the timing of these lights.

[Hodar]

I remember living in Austin ... loved Austin, love Texas ... but the Austin city commission's thoughts on traffic flow is to stop cars at every light. They believe that when traffic stops at each and every light, cars drive slower. Slower equals safer.... Then they wonder why Austin leads the country in red-light runners.

[daviddennis]

It's hard to object to the objectives of the thing, but it makes me mad whenever I see one of these devices - it has too much of a 1984-style feel to me.

This is even though I have never been cited for running a red light. (Actually, I've never been cited for anything other than speeding, and my last speeding ticket was over two years ago).

There's no doubt that these cameras deter running red lights, but at the price of having a more controlled society. I don't think it's worth it.

D

[Poohbah]

Proponents of camera systems say that traffic engineers laugh when they hear accusations of shorter yellow-light times.

Nervously guilty laughter, no doubt.

The traffic light near my house got the yellow shrunk down to less than three seconds just after the camera was installed.

Coincidence, I'm sure.

[Darth Sidious]

Am also thinking of having a BIGGER FReep than last time, with a bunch more people and on a weekend.

Next go-round, I'll have in my possession a large piece of cardboard, painted black on one side. When the light begins turning yellow I intend on holding the cardboard up in front of the camera (but without physically touching the camera) thereby obstructing its view. The "Big Brother's Black Eye", so to speak. There's nothing on the books to prevent it, nothing in North Carolina's statutes making that a crime.

I'm ready to take this from simple protest, to an act of defiance.

[RightWhale]

Alaska, Nebraska, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Utah have banned photo-enforcement systems

Is this a true statement? The Czech Republic has banned unshielded outdoor lighting, but this other would actually be big news.

[goodnesswins]

Here in Washington, the STATE, NOT running a nearly red light sometimes would be an extreme hazard - because of the wet roadways causing you to slide sideways if you stamped on your brakes suddenly. I've many times run a close light just because I knew it was safer. (Western Washington anyway where RAIN, RAIN, RAIN continues to fall.)

[Ditter]

Having someone very near & dear to me killed by a person who ran a red light, pretty much stopped me from ever doing it again.

[Atlas Sneezed]

One simple solution is to have your vehicles owned by a holding corporation. Another is to your wife listed as the owner of the car you drive, and vice versa. They won't even bother sending the tickets in most cases.

[sweetliberty]

I hate agreeing with the ACLU on anything, but they're right on this one! It is outrageous; a serious invasion of privacy and the potential for abuse far outweighs ANY advantage!

[stlrocket]

This is my favorite picture of one mans silent "protest" to the cameras. Note the plate covered up.

PICTURE THIS!

[Kaslin]

Mr. Leonard tried to recall where his wheels were when the yellow light turned red. He thought he'd beaten the light. But 12 days later he received a summons – including photos of his car, incriminatingly in mid-intersection.

Well here it is. I learned that when the light turns yellow you should get ready to stop and not try to beat the light. I have seeen many go through a red light that was already red before they even approached the intersection

[Rebelbase]

"Camera supporters also dismiss the "Big Brother" argument, saying that taking photos of someone violating the law in a public street is not having their privacy invaded. The results, they say, more than validate the cameras' contribution to road safety."

No doubt the same people who say we'll be safer when we guns are banned.

[lsee]

"The way to correct red-light running is to go back and look at timing, maintenance, and other intersection design issues and correct those problems ...

Huh? I don't think cameras are the solution, but blamung red-light running on timing, etc. is silly.

There will always be traffic dorks who think they deserve to go through the light just because they want to.

When we lived in Austin, I learned rapidly that red light running was the NORM and actually nearly got rear-ended several times because I slowed down when the guy behind me wanted me to zoom on through so he could, too. Dang it! I could see the yellow light was stale and so could the guy behind me. There were times when I had no choice but to go ahead just to prevent an accident!

I was also nearly t-boned a few times before I learned to wait even longer than normal on a green before pulling out (much to the disgust of the driver behind me). You know, in defensive driving they teach you to count "one thousand one, one thousand two" before pulling into the intersection on green and even THAT wasn't long enough. There was frequently some idiot who would come up to an intersection with a red light and blow right through even with other cars crossing.

So what if sitting at a red takes a few minutes out of your day? I invariably would catch up with the guy who ran the red light in front of me at the NEXT intersection! He didn't make any progress that would justify putting his life and the lives of those around him at risk. I'm including women in that generic "he". So why run the light? I admit some of the lights were interminably long when you were running late, but we had a lot of people using those roads. What I felt was needed was a turnpike that was a straight shot through the heaviest areas, like we had in Oklahoma City.

I warned my parents when they came to see me just how dangerous it was to drive in Austin...by the time they got to my house, they were wild-eyed with their hair standing on end...having narrowly avoided above-mentioned accidents themselves and only because they believed and heeded my warnings.

The only thing that decreased the red-light running from time to time was having a patrol car (or two) clearly visible to swiftly ticket those who dared to run in front of them. Unfortunately, while they were occupied with that violator, the other drivers would take advantage and zoom through, knowing they were not going to be caught themselves.

So, what causes "these problems"? Durned if I know...selfish drivers? Too high speed limit approaching these intersections? Low dollar penalties? Whatever it was, after a few weeks in Austin, I was inspired to get a more responsive vehicle with better pick-up-and-go for those times when I had to get out of some idiot's reckless way. That new vehicle saved my life countless times and I'm not an "old lady driver" by any means.

I've noticed in my new hometown we don't have the problem to the same degree...must be something in Austin's water.

I'd be interested to know what really makes Austin drivers behave differently than other city drivers...