Red-light cameras boost coffers, rile drivers (Calif. fine is $480)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | February 5 2012 | Kevin Fagan

[Auntie Mame]

As someone who has fought and won (had dismissed) a red light camera ticket, I get quite a chuckle when I drive through parts of Santa Ana and Anaheim and see all the cameras smashed and mutilated. Those folks don’t mess around.

[BAW]

I live in Southern Cal, and I was in a traffic intersection turning left a couple of weeks ago. The bright white strobe light went off as I progressed through my turn. Seeing the strobe light made me look quickly at the traffic light - which was a yellow arrow.

I’m waiting now to see if I get one of these very expensive tickets in the mail. If I do, I might suck up my pride and go to traffic court to protest the ticket.

Too expensive and not calibrated correctly.

[glorgau]

Simple solution. burn them down or blow them up.

When the cost of replacing them becomes higher than the revenue anticipated then magically there will be no “safety” need for them.

[Jonty30]

I don’t necessarily mind red-light or speed cameras. If the speed of the road is well known and is reasonable, if you’re willing to speed, you deserve a ticket.

However, government officials are also obligated to be fair as to how they go about issuing the tickets. The tickets should be straight-up in how they were issued.

[eyedigress]

Spend the 250 bucks and get a real “big brother” detector. Mine picks up 14 different signals and has a database of all red-light cameras. The thing picks up trains to ambulances and all in-between. It is my safe-detector. (GPS controlled)

[Navy Patriot]

However, government officials are also obligated to be fair as to how they go about issuing the tickets. The tickets should be straight-up in how they were issued.

How dare you? Government officials are beyond reproach and always have been. You certainly don't know your place.

[eyedigress]

Those asshats hide in my neighborhood in the sticks to watch for a stop roll or turn signal. Believe me they will do it with 6” of snow on the ground. My saving grace is they are to dependent on that stupid box on their dash and never turn it off. Any airman can beat that. :^)

[HereInTheHeartland]

I assume there is a website dedicated to pictures of destroyed traffic cameras?

[Venturer]

There are sprays that claim they block the camera’s by overexposing the photo.

I would assume for it to work you would have to keep the plate really clean , not sure how it works in the daytime.

I have paid a couple of these in Washington DC, and really do not recall that I was going that fast, but going to Dc to fight a losing battle against people who only want my money isn’t in my plan. My plan is to go around DC and not through it any more. It’s a money making scam, that’s for sure.

[fella]

"Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How does the state get around the bold part ?

[hillarys cankles]

to hell with paying for all those expensive gadgets. I don’t have a front license plate and my rear plate is obstructed on my work truck. Highway patrol has yet to pull me over for it (knock on wood).

[Jonty30]

I’m just a pip.

[eyedigress]

They don’t. Ask the camera a question then proceed with hostile witness preparations. Before you know it the camera gets thirty days in this stupid world.

[ltc8k6]

It’s a civil fine, not a criminal charge. No points on your license. You don’t have most of those rights because it’s simply a civil fine.

[moehoward]

".... cameras boost coffers...."

That's what they thought in AZ. Camera's destroyed + ignored summons = abandoned camera policy.

[eyedigress]

Yes and No. It may be a civil fine but if you get ticketed for rolling a stop and the citing officer is a no show, you win. Explain that.

[Venturer]

Yeah I see a lot of trucks with dirty tags you cannot read,

I guess the fine for it is much cheaper than $480 bucks.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The rationale for large fines (for speeding, running a red light, etc.) is that they are needed for a deterrence effect. That makes sense, when the probability of getting caught is low. The lower the probability of getting caught; the higher the fine needs to be.

Where red light or speeding cameras are used, the probability of getting caught approaches certainty. Therefore, smaller fines would produce the same deterrence effect, as large fines and no camera.

Of course, if the real government objective is revenue generation ....

[Mr Rogers]

There are still a LOT of cameras in AZ. Only the state Highway Patrol stopped using them. Most cities have them. Payson has one set up so that the speed limit drops as you crest the hill, and 20 yards past that is the camera. Fine was over $200...unless you were a local, you wouldn’t know about the speed limit drop in time to avoid a ticket.