[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)

[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 ?

[moehoward]

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

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

[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 ....

[Aunt Polgara]

How to beat a red light camera ticket:

www.highwayrobbery.net

You would be amazed at all the illegal things the cities do to try to keep their coffers full.

[GeronL]

are illegal aliens exempted?

[pankot]

Gotta feed the Dragon or the Dragon eats you.

[Fred Hayek]

The claim is that red light cameras are for safety, but I would dispute this. It was clear that Houston was using them as a revenue enhancement scheme when the yellow light times got to be ridiculously short. The result was more rear end collisions.

[ThomasThomas]

L.A. City Council shuts down red-light cameras headline from a July 28, 2011 a LA Times story.

[Gaffer]

England has a unique way of dealing with them. Hanging tyres on appendages and soaking them with petrol - ignite and enjoy.....

[longtermmemmory]

simple pass a constitutinal state amendment prohibiting the issuance of any fines or court costs through the use of traffic control cammeras.

[BluH2o]

Colorado Springs Gazette did a article awhile back on red light cameras. The way it works with most municipalities the cameras are installed & maintained by a private entity who get a percentage from the revenue generated by the camera. No up front costs to the city or town ... strictly a revenue generator, the safety aspect is pure BS.

[cookcounty]

"YOU MUST GO TO COURT AND FIGHT THE TICKET."

They don't hold court on the weekend. You have to ruin your perfect attendance record at work and lose $200 in income in order to fight the ticket.

With actual officers on site, there is room for human interpretation of the event. I have a friend who was stopped at an intersection with an emergency vehicle coming from the rear. It was a divided road and all 3 lanes were blocked. He carefully pulled over from the middle lane into the intersection to let the emergency vehicle through and ended up with a photo ticket.

[TankerKC]

Jones and other camera foes also insist that rolling a red light on a right turn, also known as making a "Hollywood stop," is not as dangerous as other violations - even though the vast majority of tickets given by most red-light cameras are for that violation.

I DO NOT support these cameras.

You have to stop before turning right on a red. A couple times a week I have a-holes turn right in front of me as I move through intersections on a green light.

And, I DO NOT support these cameras.