A poster on a related thread suggested...
Applied this way...
Posted on 03/22/2009 9:34:09 AM PDT by george76
Hmmm.
Almost worth buying a videocamera for this project
I've avoided this vice to date, but
this might make it worth while
It’s a money grab, pure and simple. I received a ticket in the mail in January, and being the unorganized chap I am, lost the damn thing. I did remember that there was a time limit, though, so I headed down to the police station where a nice girl got on the phone, then the computer, and printed me a duplicate.
She told me that if I didn’t pay that there would not be a bench warrant issued for me (like there would if I ignored a policeman-issued ticket) and no points would go on my driving record. She said that if I didn’t pay that it would be reported to the credit bureau. And that would be the end of it.
On a positive side, the picture of my vehicle was excellent — when I go to sell it I may use these pictures.
The money was to be mailed to a P.O. box in Cleveland, Ohio, far away from my little country town. I’m sure our local politicians enjoy these “commission checks”.
It’s for the kids, ya know....
“Having been nearly killed once by someone who blasted through a red light at a well-known dangerous intersection (I was cautious, therefore I’m alive)...I don’t quite understand the resistance to at least some surveillance of interesections.”
Let me explain it then:
There is no place in this country where red light cameras can justify their cost solely based on what is considered classic red light runners. THERE ARE SIMPLY TOO FEW. So the operators of the cameras need to come up with alternatives means of revenue to make the cameras work financially. Here are three:
1: Shorten yellow light times (thousands of tickets got thrown out in San Diego because of this)...not to mention the SERIOUS IMPACT TO SAFETY that this trick has.
2: Give tickets to people who don’t stop fully, behind the line, when making right turns (I’ve personally seen this in action in Los Angeles...no red light runners, but lots of tickets in the hour that I was watching).
3: Give tickets to people who don’t stop behind the line when going straight (they just started doing that here in Houston, now that people are wise to the cameras).
So, what you say is fine...monitor and ticket true red light runners. But it will COST the cities money...it can NEVER make them money. Therefore, if monitoring for red light runners is looked at strictly as an expense in the interest of public safety (like clearing snow), then fine...let’s have cameras and lets budget for them. But until cities actually use the cameras with that intent, they are simply a TOLLING SYSTEM (with very rare exceptions) and that’s why we hate them here.
They tried this here in Georgia and two things happened.
The Georgia General Assembly passed a law specifying the length of time for the yellow light for such intersections, which took away the manipulating of yellow light times to maximize the collections of fines, then...
Local governments then started seeing a decrease in revenue from these things such that they were no longer able to cover the costs associated with the red light cameras. So, some municipalities, particularly in Gwinnett County, are turning off the red light cameras. It is probably just a matter of time before it happens everywhere else in Georgia.
It is all about the money. If the roughly $40,000 a year cost of the red light camera per intersection isn’t paid by fines, then there is incentive to remove the red light camera.
Applied this way...
:-). Nice!
Because the accident will happen in spite of those stupid red light cameras. Get wise. The first time you get fined for the short yellow light you will see the light.
Forgot to mention that if these cameras were to help prevent accidents then the yellow caution time should be lengthen.
Photoblocker spray is basically pearl clear paint. A more interesting idea I had was to basically set up a “slave flash” next to your licence plate (a flash that goes off maybe 1/1000 second after the main flash). Because CCD cameras aren’t fast enough to take a photo at super-high speeds, there will be a large black overexposed hole in the image, where the CCD was saturated.
**Isn’t the information provided by a nonperson Hearsay and not admissible? **
doesn’t matter .. you’re guilty! which makes you an UNperson, thus sent to ROOM 101..
and That’s ... DOUBLEPLUSGOOD!
Ten of them right? Plus a roving Spy Van equipped with camera? Ten cameras in Oak Ridge {and I hear they plan for more} is ridiculous in itself. Ever notice they have the lights set at 45 MPH? You can start at Jefferson Ave and if you miss that red light in light traffic drive all the way to Elza Gate LOL.
The Knoxville Police Chief came to Oak Ridge to shill for the cameras I remember that much. That man is revenue happy and it's not just cameras. I-75 south at Emory Road due to up to nearly ten cruisers sometimes is taking your life in your own hands. The cops park in the median facing traffic and pull out likewise across three lanes of traffic that is busy dealing with the Emory Road incoming merge. You also have to move over for them when they have someone pulled over. This is insane.
Also ever notice that he had a camera light installed at the Oldham/Woodland exit south bound? Why? That intersection is not that busy or that dangerous really. To catch people in a hurry to get someone to St Mary's Hospital perhaps? REVENUE!!!
The answer in Oak Ridge {I live in Anderson County not the city itself} is coming up soon I think. Elect a new City Council. Anti Light Camera would be a good platform. One problem though is some in the city think government has all the answers because it is a Federal Town employer wise.
Busted by Mythbusters!
I would point out, though, that the mere act of reducing the yellow phase at a signalized intersection does not necessarily mean that the yellow phase has been reduced to an unsafe interval.
I am a licensed professional engineer and have repeatedly offered my services -- free of charge -- to anyone who has been ticketed by a law enforcement authority for running a red light at an intersection where they believe the yellow interval has been reduced to the point where the safety of motorists is compromised.
Any municipal engineer who approves of such a thing will face a lengthy, costly process before their professional disciplinary board.
An old tire, a bit of gasoline, and a match?
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