Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

4 weeks, 10,000 traffic tickets (Red Light Cameras)
The Columbus Dispatch ^ | August 1, 2009 | Josh Jarman

Posted on 08/01/2009 2:52:45 PM PDT by buccaneer81

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-51 next last
Municipal scam taken to the extreme. It's all about the money.
1 posted on 08/01/2009 2:52:45 PM PDT by buccaneer81
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

guess.we’ve.figured.a.way.out.of.this.financial.mess...


2 posted on 08/01/2009 2:53:47 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (The revolution IS being televised.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
"But opponents still call the cameras a cash-grab by the city..."

That's all it is or ever was.

3 posted on 08/01/2009 2:56:10 PM PDT by evad (Spending money that we don't have on something that won't work for a problem that doesn't exist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: the invisib1e hand

TEOs - tax enforcement officers


4 posted on 08/01/2009 2:56:46 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
the cameras were never about money.

Liar liar pants on fire.

5 posted on 08/01/2009 2:56:53 PM PDT by webschooner (First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win -- Mahatma Gandhi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
Makes me wonder if they're using a short yellow to 'enhance' revenue.

I also wonder if some of these lights might ought to be flashing yellow in the night hours - that used to be standard practice in Ohio years ago for lights at the entrance to shopping centers or sidestreets where traffic was not an issue at night. Such lights would flash yellow on the main road and flash red on the side street or driveway.

6 posted on 08/01/2009 2:57:11 PM PDT by meyer (Obama's failure is America's Success.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

Running traffic lights is illegal, and people have gotten away with it so long that they expect no one to be ticketed—that is until one of their loved ones is killed.


7 posted on 08/01/2009 2:57:37 PM PDT by devane617 (Republicans first strategy should be taking over the MSM. Without it we are doomed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

Of course it is all about money. 80% of the fines are for right turns on red without stopping long enough, not for running the light.

It is a Scam to make a lot of money.

And it has been shown to “cause” accidents from people slamming on their brakes to prevent running an “orange” light.

That is right “orange” not red.


8 posted on 08/01/2009 2:58:12 PM PDT by Texas Fossil (The last time I looked, this is still Texas where I live.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
Waugh said that would cut the city's take, but the cameras were never about money.

Then why even have them?

9 posted on 08/01/2009 3:00:03 PM PDT by meyer (Obama's failure is America's Success.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
More than 10,000 violations had been recorded by Heath traffic cameras through Tuesday. At $100 apiece, that would net the city a little more than $830,000 after paying the vendor, Redflex, its share.

Wow!

A politicians dream program.

Get the money and still claim to cut taxes.

When do we repeat the actions related to 1776?

Let me know and I will be there.

10 posted on 08/01/2009 3:01:23 PM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: devane617
Running traffic lights is illegal, and people have gotten away with it so long that they expect no one to be ticketed—that is until one of their loved ones is killed.

Except now you have drivers slamming on their brakes when they see a yellow as they enter the intersection. And that's going to get people killed.

11 posted on 08/01/2009 3:01:53 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century. I AM JIM THOMPSON!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: EGPWS

$100 a pop is cheap. In CA I think it’s $400-$500.

If politicians put these up at every intersection, we’d have the richest gov’t in the world. All, and I do mean all, of our budget woes would be gone and the pols couldn’t spend the revenue as fast as it came in.


12 posted on 08/01/2009 3:05:04 PM PDT by umgud (Look to gov't to solve your everday problems and they'll control your everday life.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: meyer
...but the cameras were never about money.

It's NEVER about money and job security is it?

Me thinks we have crossed the line and are now working for the government instead of the government working for us.

Add ALL the government thievery and I bet even the most modest of producers are paying more than 50% of their labor to government.

13 posted on 08/01/2009 3:05:13 PM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81; All

“It’s all about the money.”

Yes, it is. States and municipalities are broker than broke. They’ve got to wring every last dime out of us ‘stupid turnips’ while they can...

‘The People’s Republik of Madistan’ who LOVES their bike trails and gay spandex boys, to the exclusion of all other citizens, has been ticketing bicyclists for ANY minor infraction they can find. Truly SHOCKING!

The cops got a federal GRANT to set up ‘stings’ for bikers on our local roads much like they do for drunk drivers. And they’ve been setting up more ‘stings’ than usual for speeders, drunks and those that don’t wear seatbelts.

You’re ratting out your neighbor with your tax dollars, whethere you even realize it or not.

Cha-CHING!

(As a law-abider, I most likely won’t have to pay into the kitty, but I try to break one or two minor laws a day where I can; letting my lawn go until it’s close to ticket-height, putting a pop can into the trash versus the recycle bin, spitting on the sidewalk, dancing in public, etc. Try it. You’ll feel a WHOLE lot better, LOL!)


14 posted on 08/01/2009 3:05:21 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
Give it a couple of months.

Drivers will modify their behavior and the number of violations will fall to almost nil. Then, the revenue necessary to carry the costs of the program will evaporate.

This is exactly what happened in Dallas after three months of the red-light camera program.

15 posted on 08/01/2009 3:05:47 PM PDT by TexasNative2000 (Bush was the dumbest sounding smart President, and Obama is the smartest sounding dumb President.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: umgud
$100 a pop is cheap. In CA I think it’s $400-$500.

Great example umgud!

California is swimming in wealth because of their intake of earned labor aren't they?

16 posted on 08/01/2009 3:07:54 PM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

Business idea: create an Internet data base that ties in with global positioning systems.

When a driver sees a red light camera, he/she presses a button on a device that sends the GPS location to a centralized data base. Then, whenever a driver who subscribes to the service approaches that location, their GPS device warns them that a red light camera is present.

To avoid abuse, e.g. by municipal officials who see this as a revenue source, registration and possibly a fee should be required to send camera locations to the system. This would prevent municipalities from flagging every location in sight (including the middle of Interstate highways) to interfere with its effective use. Also, perhaps require the same location to be flagged by a given number of separate users.

No one can complain that this would work against traffic safety because the warning would make people more likely to stop when the light turns red.


17 posted on 08/01/2009 3:12:25 PM PDT by Winged Hussar (http://moveonpleasemoveon.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: devane617
Running traffic lights is illegal, and people have gotten away with it so long that they expect no one to be ticketed—that is until one of their loved ones is killed.

I'd be willing to be the red-light runners who are causing deadly accidents are running reds long after they've turned, when cross-traffic has actually had a chance to proceed through the intersection.

Here in the Albuquerque area, red light running is a common thing. Usually it's a long line of traffic and the last cars through don't want to wait for the next light. Rarely does the cross-traffic even have a chance to start up until the intersection is cleared.

The problem with red light cameras is that the yellow is often shortened to catch more drivers in the grey area of "should I maintain speed or should I stop"? Now, instead of side-impact crashes, you get rear-end versions as people slam on the brakes to avoid the camera. If the yellow is the proper length, most people stop easily for the red.

18 posted on 08/01/2009 3:13:52 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Winged Hussar
Business idea: create an Internet data base that ties in with global positioning systems.



19 posted on 08/01/2009 3:15:12 PM PDT by WVKayaker (God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.-D.Webster)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

With this many tickets being recorded, they have to be scamming the system. In San Diego, they found that some of the equipment was not installed properly. Plus, the company operating it had shortened the yellow light time below the required minimums. In California, the state sets the minimum amount of yellow light time required, and that minimum time varies according to the speed limit on the street. The higher the limit, the longer the yellow time that is required.


20 posted on 08/01/2009 3:16:06 PM PDT by CdMGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-51 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson